The Bella Surprise Birthday Thing
by gjficfan
Summary: Bella's the guest of honor at a surprise birthday party. How will she react? More importantly, will the guests behave? Companion to "The Wednesday Dinner Thing." Non-canon pairings: B/Em, A/Ed, R/C, Es/J. AH, OOC. B/Em POV. Language/lemons.
1. Chapter 1

**A/N: Stephenie Meyer owns **_**Twilight**_**. I just mixed up her couples and moved them into a new neighborhood.**

**This story is an extended outtake from my fanfic **_**The Wednesday Dinner Thing**_**. You should be able to follow along if you haven't read that one, but the relationships between the couples and the events that led to them becoming friends are explained in far more detail in **_**Wednesday Dinner**_**. **

**Finally, thank you a thousand times, ExquisiteEdward! You're a great beta, listener, and friend! **

* * *

**Saturday, September 17, 2011: Part 1**

**BPOV**

"Thanks again for the hotel, and the spa," I said to Leah. "I wish you hadn't, but it was... an experience."

"Why can't you just admit that you had fun?" she asked, smirking at me. "It's okay. I won't tell Em the noises you made while you got that massage."

"Tell him," I said, laughing. "He'll get off on that." It was a very safe bet that my fiancé would _love _to hear exactly how much I'd enjoyed my massage.

"Good point," she replied. We were both still laughing as we stepped out of my car.

For my birthday, which had actually been on Tuesday, my stepsister Leah treated me to a night's stay at a trendy downtown hotel. We'd spent most of today in the hotel's luxurious spa. Leah worked across the country in Washington DC, so I really enjoyed our time together doing nothing but talking and catching up. I missed her so much I could hardly stand it. We were very involved in each other's lives.

My parents divorced when I was a baby, and I'd always lived with my mom Renée. When I was in high school, she remarried and moved with her husband Phil from Phoenix, Arizona to Jacksonville, Florida. Not wanting to be _that _far away from my dad Charlie, I decided to live with him, in his hometown of Forks, Washington, for my final two years of high school. My mom and Phil were back in Phoenix now, but I still didn't see them often.

Charlie had remarried as well. His wife Sue had two kids of her own: Leah and her younger brother, Seth. Leah was just a little older than me while Seth was almost ten years younger. When Leah moved to Seattle for college, I followed. Seattle has been my home ever since.

Although I'd just been laughing, the thoughts of my family saddened me. Seth was leaving for college next week, and by the end of the month, the project that brought Leah here would be over and she'd be leaving again. With a sigh and a heavy heart, I opened the trunk to pull out our overnight bags.

"Look," Leah yelled. "They're actually having something at that clubhouse." I had to drive by the clubhouse to get to the parking lot in front of my building, but we'd been talking so I hadn't paid attention. But now that I looked, there were many cars parked near the clubhouse, and there was clearly activity... a lot of it... inside.

"This is only the second time I've seen anybody use it," I said.

Em and I had lived in our condo for a little over a year now; we could see the community clubhouse from our balcony, and it was usually a ghost town.

"The first was Alice's sale, right?" Leah asked.

"Yes," I replied. "The infamous yard sale." I smiled to myself thinking back to that day, just a few months ago. Because of that sale, Em and I met some of the best friends we would ever have.

"You wanna see what's going on?" she asked. I stopped staring at the clubhouse and turned to answer my sister just as she was putting her phone in her purse.

"Jake?"

"Of course," she said, rolling her eyes. She'd been texting much more than usual today, and she said that the messages were from Jake. He wanted to spend more time with her too. I certainly couldn't blame him.

"Just fit me for my bridesmaid dress already," I said with a grin.

"Whatever," she replied. "Put those bags back in the trunk. We're gonna take a look around."

"I don't think so," I said. "If it's some community thing, I'm not looking to meet any more neighbors."

Leah marched over, put the bags back in the trunk, and slammed the lid down before grabbing me by the wrist and yanking me forward.

"If this is how you manhandle Jake, I don't get why he sticks around," I muttered as I stumbled along behind her.

"Jake likes when I take charge," she said. "He..."

"That's enough!" I shouted. I already knew _way _more about their exploits than I ever needed to.

"I don't know how you managed before me," she said, steadily marching across the parking lot. "You can't live your whole life scared to have a little fun. All we're gonna do is peek inside. We're not robbing the place."

"I know, I know. You saved me from a boring life," I said as she fell out laughing. "You've told me a thousand times. What do you want me to do, start singing _Wind Beneath My Wings_?"

"The way you sing? Fuck no!" We laughed as we neared the clubhouse, and slowed our walk. I didn't like admitting it, but had I never moved to Forks, I _would_ have been a completely different person. Charlie was content to leave me be, but Sue, Leah, and Seth made it their mission to pull my head out of my books every once in a while.

"What are you doing?" she screamed when she saw me pull out my cell phone.

"I'm calling Em," I said. "He might know what's going on, and we won't even have to snoop." She promptly snatched my own phone away from me.

"Just live a little!" she snapped. "Come on!"

"Maybe you _should _spend some time with Jake tonight," I said with a huge grin. I didn't like her yelling at me, but I loved how I seemed to be getting under her skin. "You never used to be so aggressive." She stopped and raised an eyebrow at me.

"Okay, you've always been this aggressive," I said. "Just not with me." We laughed again until she starting pointing toward the back entrance of the clubhouse.

"Oooh, private event," Leah said. While she kept talking, I took a moment to chuckle at how the "Private Event" A-frame sign sitting in the grass near the door had been trimmed out with the same wood and stone that were the community's signature. Apparently, even the smallest accessory at_ Twilight at Forest Crossing_ had to fit the decor.

"We shouldn't intrude," I said.

"Come on!" she demanded, pulling my arm again. "What's going on inside might be private, but they can't stop us from walking on this sidewalk. There's nobody near the door anyway." She crossed the grass to peer sideways into one of the opened French doors. Against my better judgment, I followed. We'd come this far, and now I _was_ curious because whatever was going on in there, it was entirely too quiet.

"Shit, that's a lot of people," Leah whispered as we moved even closer.

"I know," I said. "I wonder who it's..." And then my eyes connected with the first person I saw, and I knew.

"Mom?" was all I was able to say before Renée rushed up, pulled me inside, and hugged me so hard she almost knocked me over.

"Bella!" she exclaimed as she attempted to squeeze me to death. That's when "SURPRISE!" rang out through the entire clubhouse. I was speechless. I couldn't really move, but so many people rushed up to me, hugging me, that I was being pulled about and moved whether I liked it or not.

"Don't be mad, babe," Em whispered when he bent down to hug me. "This is just a little thank you." I wanted to be angry, really really angry, but when I saw how his eyes sparkled, how happy and excited he looked, I couldn't say a single cross word. I'd almost lost him a few months ago. How could I be upset with him?

I smiled at him, and was rewarded with a huge grin.

"You are _so _dead," I said to Leah when she hugged me. She cackled in delight. Right now, I didn't know who planned this, but I knew that Leah was involved. I wouldn't get mad at Em, but I _could_ and _would_ get mad at my big sister. She knew how much I loathed being the center of attention.

As people began to sit down at tables all around the large main room, I was still being hugged. The gang was all here and I hugged them as well: Alice and Edward, Esme and Jasper, and Rose and Carlisle. We may have only known each other for just a few months, but we were family now.

"Happy birthday, Bella," Jane said as she actually embraced me in a warm hug. More than anything else, this act was shocking enough to clear my confused mind. Jane was Emmett's miserable mother, and she rarely had a kind word for me.

"Thanks, Jane," I said, feeling the surprise on my face. Her boyfriend, Waylon, was here and I hugged him too. I really could not believe this. _What the fuck had I been doing when all this was being planned?_

"I'm so glad I got to come!" Vera said as she hugged me next. She was the girlfriend of Em's dad, Steve, and I'd just met the both of them last week. He was next to pull me into a hug.

"Happy birthday, Bella," my future father-in-law said, grinning down at me and looking the image of the man I loved, albeit a little older and grayer.

"Thanks, Steve," I replied. Renée's husband, Phil, was next, and he kissed me on the cheek. I was surprised that I hadn't started crying yet, but that changed very quickly.

"Gran!" I sobbed, almost toppling my grandmother as I hugged her.

"Happy birthday, honey," she cried as she held me tightly. I talked to my grandmother several times a week. We were close, both personally and professionally. She had devoted her life to the study of books and book preservation, and from the time I could read, she'd been passing down her knowledge to me. She lived in California though, and I didn't have time to see her often.

I was a snotty, sobbing mess by the time I pulled myself away from her and finally into the arms of Seth, Sue, and Charlie. The more they tried to calm me down, the harder I cried. Eventually, I felt Em's large hand encircle mine and firmly lead me away.

"Thank you," I said, taking gasping breaths, when we got outside. He sat on a bench in front of the clubhouse, and I hurriedly fell onto his lap.

"You're welcome," he said as he carefully wiped my face with a heavy cloth.

"Is... that a... dinner napkin?" I asked, hiccupping.

"Yes," he said with a chuckle. "If you calm down, you'll get rid of those hiccups."

"Fuck... off," I said, hiccupping again. He let out a huge guffaw, and we both laughed. He opened a bottle of water and handed it to me. I drank a little, and then a lot. We stared at each other the entire time. I took a few deep breaths and leaned against him. He smoothed down my hair and rubbed my back while I collected myself.

The heat from his body and the warmth of his touch made me much more relaxed. I was tear-free and breathing properly as I began to put together the facts in my head.

Dinner napkins were used for formal meals. We Swans were a cookout and comfort-food bunch. If anyone would have planned a formal dinner, it would have been me. I knew then that my family had nothing to do with planning this. _But_, Leah had clearly been asked to keep me out of the way yesterday and today while everyone came to town and they got the clubhouse set up.

A formal sit-down dinner would have required coordination with a caterer or event planner. When it came to food, the only people Em coordinated with were me and the cashiers at fast-food joints. However, he had to be the person who initiated the party because I was clearly the focus. No one else would have arranged for both sides of my family to be present.

So Em was the mastermind, but he had _not _put this whole event together. Interestingly enough, he happened to know... we happened to know... two people who would have fallen over themselves to plan something like this.

"If you stop trying to figure it out, I'll tell you what you wanna know," Em said, grinning at me.

"Shush!" was my reply as I went back to my musings. He just laughed and shook his head.

I remembered something else too. Last week, when Em had to go to urgent care, and the whole gang had come over, I _thought_ I heard Rose telling Leah about a party. But when I asked about it, they made me think that I'd heard incorrectly. I was so stressed that I believed them.

I bet they hadn't planned on telling Leah until the very last minute because they knew how close we were. My sister_ absolutely_ would have told me about the party, probably by accident, if she'd known about it for longer than a week. We were_ that _close, and we talked often. I bet Rose had worked that one out because she was just as close to her sister Vicky as I was to Leah. From these facts, I knew how this party had come to be.

"So, you planned the party, and asked Alice and Esme to put the whole thing together. And Leah just found out last week, by accident. But that worked well because she's the only one, other than you, who could have gotten me down here without asking too many questions. Do I have that right?"

"Yeah, that's pretty much what went down," Em replied. "Would you like a Scooby snack for solving the mystery?"

I pinched his nipple hard through his shirt for that remark, and he started tickling me in retaliation. Eventually, an elderly couple walked by, shaking their heads at us, and we remembered that we weren't exactly behaving like the adults we were.

"I love seeing you like this," I said seriously. "It's been too long since we've been really happy. It's been years, not just the last few months."

"I know," he said. "I love you so much, Bell. I just want us to be happy. I feel like we're doing good now, and things are getting way better; I want it to stay like this." The sincerity of his words made my insides melt, and I leaned up and started to kiss him. I didn't know how long we'd been kissing when the sound of a throat clearing interrupted us. It was the same elderly couple walking back up the sidewalk, glaring at us this time.

"How's it going?" Em asked them with a wave and a grin, as I tucked my head into his neck and tried not to die of embarrassment. They whispered to each other and kept walking.

"Let's go back in before you get us kicked out for inappropriate behavior," I said, laughing and shaking my head.

"You started it," he said with a smirk. "I just have to say one more thing. You figured out how the party got planned, but you still don't know why. Like I said, I wanted to thank you for putting up with me after Fe died. You deserve a fucking medal for all that you did for me, and you deserved something big. So please, just enjoy yourself, okay?"

"Deal," I said as we both stood up. He held the door open for me, but held me back when we stepped inside.

"Uh, you better wait right here," he said nervously. "I'm gonna go grab Rose."

"For what?" I asked.

"Um, well, your face," he said. "You were crying and... yeah, let me get Rose." I stood where I was, thankful that he thought to do that; I could only imagine what I looked like. I was happy to hear Alice chatting away on a microphone, and to see the caterers taking out appetizers. That meant that at least people had been eating and were being entertained while I was outside having a meltdown.

"Yikes!" Rose said when she looked at my face. I quickly gave her the finger, and we both laughed.

"I'm glad to see that Leah got you out of a t-shirt and sneakers," she said, looking me up and down.

"She's lucky I actually like this," I replied. My whole outfit was courtesy of my sister. I was wearing a nice pair of jean shorts, not my scraggly cutoff ones, and a loose, gauzy, white top with elastic around the bottom; what I liked most was the blue embroidery on the front. The only reason I wasn't wearing my Chucks was the pedicure that was a part of our spa package today; so I was wearing a simple pair of white sandals instead.

"You should," Rose said. "You look great."

"Thanks," I replied.

I followed her into one of the clubhouse bathrooms. She set her makeup kit on the counter and stood back to take a look at me.

"You really don't look that bad," she said as she turned the water on to run. "He probably just wants you to look your best for the pictures."

"Pictures?" I asked.

"Yeah," she replied as she wet a cloth and gave it to me to wipe my face. "Alice hired two photographers to walk around and take pictures. Then they'll eventually put them up on their website, and people can order them if they want."

"I knew this thing had Alice and Esme written all over it." She laughed. Rose didn't take offense to my comment at all. Of all of us, Rose had the least flexible job; she sold cars. She simply didn't have the time it would have taken to plan all of this.

"Why else do you think I'm dressed like this?" she asked as she gave me another cloth to dry my face. When I was done, she dabbed some sort of cream under my eyes.

"Yeah, that's not your usual attire," I said. "I bet Carlisle loves it though."

"Yes he does, the freak," she said as I snorted. Rose was wearing a very nice pair of belted tan shorts. Her white sleeveless blouse, buttoned up to the neck, had lace ruffles down the front and was tucked into the shorts. The look was casual but polished. However, Rose's usual style was tight and sexy, not lacey and demure. I knew Carlisle well and he would love for her to dress more like this, but he knew better than to try and change her.

"I'm guessing there's a library theme," I said. A nametag with the words "Rose" and "Librarian" was pinned to the blouse. A pair of glasses, hanging from a spectacle chain, rested on her chest.

"Yes, all for you," she replied with a chuckle. "You look better already. Your eyes are puffy, but people will understand, we all saw you crying. I'm just gonna do a little eyeliner and then some eyeshadow." I nodded. I didn't care what she did so long as I didn't look like I'd been crying all day in the pictures. I rarely wore makeup but I could tell that she was using very natural-looking colors so I didn't mind.

"Whatever you did to help pull it all together, thanks. I appreciate it. Em's so happy."

"You should have seen him earlier when all the families got here," Rose said. "He was like a kid in a candy store. And all the moms were fawning all over him."

"It's been great meeting the families though," Rose continued. "Wait 'til you see Jasper's little brother! He's like a tatted-up Jasper. They look _so _much alike."

"Wait," I said after she applied a little eye shadow. "Jasper's brother? From _Texas_?"

"Oh yeah," she replied with a smirk. "All of our families are here too." My mouth fell open and stayed that way so long I was lucky no flies entered it.

"Not like every single person in our families, but definitely parents, brothers, sisters, some uncles and aunts, and grandparents too. This is huge, Bella. It's what Emmett wanted."

"You might as well keep your mouth like that," she said, laughing to herself when I didn't move. "I'll put a little lipstick on you, and you'll be done." I did as I was told, too shocked to do otherwise. This party had to have been in the works for a very long time.

"You look great," Rose said when she finished and I examined myself in the mirror. I looked _much_ better, and you could barely tell I had any makeup on.

"Thanks, Rose," I said. "You're no Alice, but this'll do."

"Bitch," she said, grinning at me. "Come on. I'm starving! Go out there and have a great time. Just enjoy yourself and don't ruin the fun. Got it?" I nodded.

* * *

"I'm so honored that you're all here," I said to the many, _many_ faces in front of me. There had to be close to a hundred people. Rose had led me to the very front of the area with all the tables, and Alice had thrust the microphone into my hands.

"I'm sure some of you had to use vacation time from work, and do some major rescheduling to be here, but I'm so thankful that you did." There were murmurs around the room, and I paused a little before I continued.

"I _would_ thank my family," I said. "But I'm a little annoyed that this is the one time in their lives they all managed to keep a secret." Everyone around the room cracked up laughing. Even Charlie.

"Thank you, Alice and Esme, for pulling this together. For those who don't know, books are my life. I love everything that you did, I really do." They were standing right next to me so I hugged them both again. I chuckled because they were dressed exactly like Rose.

"And thank you Edward, Jasper, Rose, and Carlisle for doing whatever Alice and Esme told you to do." Everyone in the room laughed again, even the gang, who all knew I spoke the truth.

"But most importantly, I have to thank the mastermind of all of this: my best friend, my fiancé, Emmett McCarty. Thanks, babe. I love you." Almost everyone around the room stood and clapped, and quite a few people yelled out "Speech, Speech." Em very grudgingly got out of his seat. His face was bright red when he leaned down to hug me; I handed him the mike.

"Thanks," he said nervously. "I thought my part was done." There were chuckles around the room as everyone settled back into their seats.

"Like Bell said, thank all you guys for coming. So far, it's going great; better than I expected.

"I _am_ gonna thank Bell's family, and mine, even though she wouldn't," he said as our families laughed. "This is the first time all of our parents have ever been together at the same time. I know it's hard, with divorce and stuff, but I'm glad you guys all came."

It occurred to me that Em was absolutely right. His dad Steve had been M.I.A. from the family for the longest time, only checking in with Em a few times a year. Jane lived in Forks, as did Charlie; Renee had always lived far away. And now they all had significant others in their lives who were here too. This _was_ a huge deal. I hoped those photographers got a good picture of the table with our parents.

"I wanna thank the gang too: Alice and Edward, Rose and Carlisle, Esme and Jasper," Em said. "Not even counting everything you did for this party, you guys are like my second family." There were smiles all around a table in front of us where most of the gang was sitting. I noticed a little girl sitting with Jasper; she had to be his niece Maria.

"I also need to thank Jake and Quil," Em said. He and Jake had known each other since they were kids. Quil was Leah's boss, and I was stunned when I saw him smile from a nearby table. Leah looked as surprised as I did that her boss had some involvement in the planning.

"They were responsible for getting Leah here," Em said, "and Bell would _not _have enjoyed this without her sister. So thanks, Jake, and thanks, Quil."

Leah was whispering to Jake who was just smiling and staring ahead. Looks like someone else had been keeping secrets too. I would have to thank Quil because Em was so right; it wouldn't have been the same without my sister.

"I'm almost done here," Em said, "but I wanted to say a little about why I wanted to do this." He paused for what felt like forever, and the room was completely silent. After taking a deep breath, he spoke again.

"About three months ago, my twin brother, Felix, passed away." I saw eyes go wide throughout the place. Not everyone knew.

"I don't remember much of anything from the whole month after," Em said. "I was a wreck. I was..." I knew he wasn't going to make it all the way through whatever he wanted to say. The memory of that time was still too painful. I was surprised he was holding up this well.

"My mom and Heidi, they were with me, they're here today, they know." I followed Em's eyes to Heidi, my almost sister-in-law; she'd been engaged to Felix when he died. I was happy to see her here. Even from far away, she looked better than the last time I'd seen her.

"At one point, I almost gave up. That's around the time when I met Alice and Edward. Then Esme, and Rose and Carlisle, and then Jasper. And things... got a whole lot better." Again, he paused for a while, and I saw several people around the room wiping their eyes.

"But it was Bell that held it together for me. Without her..." He looked over at me again and closed his eyes tightly. I got closer and hugged him as he kept speaking.

"So, I wanted to do something big to show her how much she means to me, how much I appreciate her in my life. I wouldn't be here without her." His voice cracked on the last word, and I knew he was done. He handed me the microphone before he rushed over to a nearby seat. I gave the microphone to Alice before I went to sit down beside him. He had his head in his hands; I began to rub his back to calm him. I noticed many more people around the room wiping their eyes.

"When Emmett told us he wanted to have this party," Alice said, "we'd only known each other for a week. But even then, we knew we'd made friends for life." I figured that this had taken some time to plan; I didn't realize it had been in the works almost the entire time we'd known each other. They were right though; a week in, and we'd already been thicker than thieves.

"I think Emmett was going to say that he wanted this to be more than just a surprise party," Alice said. "He wanted you, our families and friends, to get to know each other too."

Easily half of the women around the room were crying by this point, and I saw some watery eyes in a few of the men. I loved the story of how we'd all met, and I knew we'd be telling it for years.

"We've had a few... misunderstandings along the way," Alice said. She looked at me as she said that, and I smiled at her. Alice and I had definitely not started off on the right foot.

"But, like Emmett said, we're all a family." Surprisingly, Edward walked up and stood next to her; she gave him the mike.

"Hey, everyone," he said. "I wanted to bring up something else that Emmett said that I thought was really important. He said that some families only get together for weddings or funerals, and sometimes at holidays, and how families should make more of an effort because you never know when..." We all knew he didn't need to finish that sentence.

"That really hit home with me," Edward continued, "because I moved to Seattle for college and just never left. My family's from Chicago, and we see each other at holidays, but that's mainly it.

"So because of Emmett, and this party, I invited my family here. I have to admit, overall, it's been great. My sister and I haven't killed each other... _yet_…" Everyone cracked up again, and I was glad Edward managed to lighten the mood.

"I've spent some time with my nieces and my brother-in-law, and really enjoyed having my parents around. I'm sure the experience has been the same for all of us. We love our lives here, but we miss you all too. So thank _you_, Emmett, for wanting this in the first place." There were murmurs of agreement from around the room, and a smattering of applause. Em stood and hugged Edward, then led me to our seats at the table.

"I think that takes care of all of the thank you's," Alice said when we were seated. "The main course is ready. So, Lynn, if you could do the honors, we can eat!" There were claps from a few of the guys around the room at the thought of the main course.

Lynn, a tall slender woman who looked about my parents' age, walked up and took the microphone. Her blonde hair was sort of puffed up and pulled back from her perfectly made-up face; she was definitely related to Jasper in some way. He looked very like her.

"My aunt…" Jasper said, as if he could read my thoughts. "She's a minister." Lynn's prayer was short and to the point as she gave thanks for everyone's safe trip here, and blessed the food. She had a drawl like Jasper's; hers was slightly more pronounced, but not by much.

"One last thing," Alice said. "Don't worry if you didn't get to talk to Bella yet. We'll have her come around to all the tables right before dessert." I groaned, and heard a little giggle.

I assumed that the whole gang would be sitting with me, but I was mistaken. Alice, Rose, and Esme had a little station of sorts set up in a corner of the room. At my table were Em, Leah and Jake, Edward, Carlisle, Jasper, and his very adorable niece who was currently grinning at me.

"You have to be Maria," I said.

"Yes!" she replied. "Happy birthday, Bella!" She couldn't have been over ten, and wore a colorful sundress. Her brown hair, a few shades lighter than mine, fell to her shoulders and was held back by a bright pink headband that matched one of the colors from her dress. Alice would most definitely approve.

"Thank you," I said. "Your uncle Jasper talks about you all the time."

"What did he say?" she asked. I looked up at Jasper and smiled.

"He said that you were very pretty, which you are, and that you were smart and funny too. He tries to tell your jokes, but he doesn't really do a good job." She giggled and hugged him. He whispered something to her and she laughed and laughed. It was clear that he adored her, and I couldn't wait to meet the rest of his family.

When the catering team brought our food, I had no idea what I was getting. I didn't care because I was starving. I almost stuck my fork in the server's hand before she could set the plate down.

"This looks so good," I said. It was some sort of herb-roasted chicken, and it smelled divine. Only then did I realize that there were other meal options. Em and Jake had prime rib, and Leah had grilled salmon. Carlisle said there was a vegetarian option as well. Leah and I quickly agreed to swap half of our entrees. There was talking and laughing around the room as the rest of the meals were served.

While I ate, I took a look around the clubhouse, or what used to be the clubhouse anyway. The entire room had been set up to look like a library. Hanging from the ceiling near the front of the room, where Alice was performing her duties as emcee, was a large "INFORMATION" sign. Under the sign sat a long table. On the table were at least ten sets of bookends, most with intricate designs; several small knick-knacks were there as well. I had a feeling that those were gifts for raffles or games.

The wood and stone accents of the clubhouse, a unifying theme throughout the community, lent themselves well to the library theme. Along the walls were several fake bookcases whose fake shelves were filled with fake books; the bookcases had probably been made from huge pieces of styrofoam, but from where I sat they looked real enough. I was sure that Edward had acquired them from some of his buddies at the theater where he used to work; I imagined they used fake furniture pieces like that all the time.

I was sitting at one of ten square tables, each of which was covered in a sage green or beige fabric tablecloth. The name cards at each place setting looked like library cards. That made me laugh out loud.

"They went all out, didn't they?" Em asked when he heard me laugh. I just nodded and continued looking around.

Eight people sat at each table, though I noticed nine people at a table in the corner. Each table had a centerpiece of 4 or 5 books bundled and tied with woven cord with bookmarks at the ends. There were bookends holding the bundles in place. I had to lean over to our parents' table to see that because, interestingly, there was no centerpiece at my table. I wondered what that meant.

The place settings were also perfectly coordinated, of course, with multiple plates, utensils, and glasses. I chuckled when I realized that the plates were currently a topic of conversation at my table. It wasn't the girls who were interested though.

"Tap that plate again, and I'll break your finger," Leah said to Jake. "It's driving me crazy."

"I'm trying to figure out what it's made of," Jake replied. "No need to get violent."

"It's a fucking plate, you eat off of it, that's all you need to know," she retorted. "You get hung up on the dumbest shit." She sighed, rolled her eyes, and crossed her arms, looking completely exasperated, as only she could. We all tried to stifle our laughs, and even Maria was giggling at my sister's swearing.

"Aww, I'm sorry I make you so crazy," Jake whispered to her in seductive tone. Em and I both laughed, as did Jake. He knew just what buttons to push with my sister, and even if it wasn't helping his efforts to win her over, it was funny as hell to watch. Leah couldn't help but crack a smile; they'd be fine, for the next few minutes anyway.

"These plates_ are _nice though," Em said. "Nicer than the plates at our house, that's for sure. We don't have any china." I was not in the least bit offended by his comment. At our house, we were happy if we had clean plates at all. And it wasn't beneath us to eat out of containers.

"These are very nice, especially for party ware, but they're _not_ china," Carlisle said, laughing to himself and shaking his head. He'd evaluated a few sets of antique dinnerware and cutlery in his line of work; if anyone would know, it was him.

"They're kind of heavy, and sturdy," Edward said. "They're really nice. Not too formal, not too casual. Perfect for this group."

"You've been around Alice_ way_ too long," Jasper said as we all cracked up again.

"I know what all the plates are for," Maria said proudly. "We learned at camp last year." She gave everyone a lesson in the proper use of each plate and utensil.

"I'm glad you're here," I said to her. "I had no idea."

"It's important for good etiquette," Maria replied matter-of-factly. I chuckled again; she was so cute.

Em suddenly snorted, and I noticed that he was looking at our parents' table. It appeared that the place settings were a topic of conversation there as well.

"Whatever happened to the days of paper plates at parties?" I heard Steve say. Em let out a huge guffaw, and everyone at both of our tables laughed. We eventually stopped talking about the plates and went back to eating the food on them. A few minutes later, a very attractive woman walked up and stood behind Maria's chair. She had long, jet black hair with blonde streaks mixed in throughout.

"Leave me alone, Mom!" Maria whined. "I'm not doing anything wrong! I wanna sit with Uncle Jazzy!" The woman completely ignored her and spoke to Jasper.

"Are you guys sure she's okay here? I don't think she should be at the head table. I can..."

"Carmen, please leave it alone," Edward said, chuckling. "It's fine. Don't get my wife started again."

"Okay," Carmen said warily. "Just behave." She gave a pointed look to Maria, who like me, was more concerned with eating than anything else at the moment.

"Happy birthday and nice to meet you, Bella. I'm Carmen, Maria's mom."

"Nice to meet you, too," I said. She quickly left the table and went back to her seat at Heidi's table. There were several guys there as well, I believe some of Vera's family. Those guys were getting an eyeful because Heidi, her friend Fallon, and Carmen all dressed like Rose normally did. There was _a lot_ of cleavage at that table.

"There was a bit of a to-do about the seating arrangements," Carlisle said as everyone at the table groaned and laughed. "This table wasn't even one of the problems."

"Let me guess," I said, smiling. "Alice and Esme made an elaborate seating chart, but once people started talking and meeting each other, they sat where they wanted."

"Bingo," Jake said. "I had no idea that Alice could be so... firm. Remind me not to get on her bad side." We all laughed, Edward in particular.

"It just got settled when you were outside," Edward said, laughing and shaking his head.

"How many people are here?" I asked.

"Just eighty-four of our closest friends and family members," Em said with a smirk.

"Eighty-four!" I screeched.

"That's including us," Carlisle said.

"And that's almost everybody," Jake said. "Except the babies, the babysitters, the photographers, and the catering crew." All I could do was shake my head as they all laughed.

Looking around again, I finally saw one of the photographers, who was doing a great job of snapping shots and blending in. I saw Alice, flipping through a huge binder, while Esme and Rose seemed to be making gift bags which they were placing on a table _already_ filled with matching bags. Next to them was a smaller table upon which sat an assortment of other gift bags and wrapped packages. I couldn't believe that after coming all this way, people had actually bought me gifts too. I was very overwhelmed.

"I feel like I should help or something," I said.

"Bella, I don't want to see you get your feelings hurt," Edward said as Carlisle grinned beside him. "Stay where you are and enjoy yourself. Everything's under control."

"It's your party," Maria said. "You don't do anything. Everybody does stuff for _you_."

"Oh, is that how it works?" I asked, as the guys and Leah laughed.

"Definitely," Maria said.

"Have you had a good time so far?" I asked her. She nodded vigorously.

"I've never been here before, so it's fun," she said. "_But,_ I really can't wait to go on the tour. I told all my friends and I'm gonna take lots of pictures."

"I can't wait for the barbeque," Carlisle said to her and she grinned back. I got the distinct impression that I was missing something. Edward could tell.

"Taz and Esme have a schedule of events planned from today through Tuesday," he said, trying not to laugh in my face. I looked around the table in shock as they all snickered and laughed at my expression.

"It'll be fun, don't worry, babe," Em said. The next few days were going to be very, _very _interesting. We continued talking and eating until Alice walked up to the front.

"Cake time!" she said into the microphone.

"You gotta go up, babe," Em said, smirking at me. I knew then that there would be some joke element to my cake.

"On three, let's all sing," Alice said. "One... two... three..."

As everyone in the room belted out an extremely loud version of _Happy Birthday_, the catering team brought out the huge cake. In keeping with the theme, my birthday cake was shaped like an open book. The header on the left "page" read "French Vanilla"; the header on the right read "Chocolate Fudge." There were large blocks of text somehow stenciled or sprayed onto both "pages" of the cake as well.

"Could you please read the text aloud, Bella?" Alice asked before she handed me the microphone.

I cleared my throat. "This is what's on the left," I said quickly before I started reading it.

"_Isabella, Bella, Bells, and Bell, _

_No matter what you're called  
You're the same through and through.  
Your pretty face and giant brain  
Are uniquely you._

_You're smart and tough  
You laugh, you cry  
Of life you have no fear.  
Who else but you could handle Em,  
That loveable pain in the rear?_

_We're proud of you and all you've done  
But one thing's very clear.  
When you love,  
You love hard  
And for that we hold you dear._

_Happy 27th Birthday!" _

I laughed as tears rolled down my face. There was laughter throughout the room as well. I could barely read the right side of the cake through my tears, but somehow I managed. It read:

_Love, _

_Em, Leah, Seth, Jake,  
Dad, Sue, Mom, Phil, Gran,  
Carlisle, Rose, Alice, Edward,  
Esme, Jasper, and all of  
(y)our friends and family_

_P.S. If you don't like the poem,  
Emmett wrote it!_

"And what if I love the poem?" I asked when I stopped laughing and had wiped away the last happy tear.

"I still wrote it," Em said as everyone laughed.

"I love it," I said. I suspected it was a collaborative effort, but I kissed Em anyway.

After making the ceremonial first cut, I turned the knife over to the catering team who did the rest of the work. Then, I made my way around to the tables. As it turned out, I knew over half the people here because they knew me, Em, or both of us.

"I hope my mom didn't talk you to death," I said when we approached the table with our parents. All we could hear from our table during dinner was her. Steve raised his eyebrows a bit and everyone laughed.

"I'm just getting to know everyone," Renée explained.

Em and I talked a little more with our parents, and some of their friends as we made our way around the room. Jane's boyfriend, Waylon, and Steve's girlfriend, Vera, each brought quite a few family members with them. Everyone they brought was either from Forks or Seattle, and we knew some of them already. Jake's dad, Billy - who was also Charlie's best friend - was here with his girlfriend, along with Jake's sisters and their boyfriends. I hadn't seen Jake's sisters in ages. Gran had come with her friend Dorothy; they'd worked together for years. Just seeing them all brought back so many memories.

"Thank you for what you did!" I said to Leah's boss, Quil, when I arrived at his table.

"Well, Leah's already very important to us," he said. "Besides, we've done some great work since we've been here, so it's been very worth it." All five members of Leah's team had come and they were scattered around the room talking and laughing with some of the other guests. I was so glad someone thought to invite them, especially now that we knew that they'd basically come out here so that Leah could be here for the party. The entire team was conducting a massive study of teen life in tribes around the country, and while here, they'd spoken with several members of Washington tribes. My sister had been working.

Em left me at some point and was now in deep conversation with Jake and a few other guys. When I got to what was clearly the young people's table, I made a big production of kissing my little brother.

"Quit it!" Seth shouted, as everyone laughed.

"What kind of big sister would I be if I didn't embarrass you?" I asked. He was sitting between Rose's younger brother and sister, Henry and Irina. Reenie, as she was called, was the star of a television show on Tween TV. She seemed very down to earth though. She was also laughing too hard at my idiot brother's dumb jokes and was hanging on his every word. I couldn't wait to talk to Rose; we thought it would be great if our baby siblings got together.

Gran and Dorothy were sitting with Esme's grandparents who had brought three of their friends as well as their personal assistant.

"This has been a wonderful event," Esme's grandfather, the former senator, said to me when I arrived at the table.

"I think so too," I replied. "Probably because I had nothing to do with it." Even Gran laughed along with the others because she knew parties had never been my thing, attending them or planning them.

Things were not so jolly at the next table where I found Esme's mother, her aunt, and her uncle sitting with Jasper's parents and one of his aunts and one of his uncles. Carlisle's uncle, Caius, was there as well. He would be; he was dating Esme's mom. You could cut the tension at that table with a knife.

"It's nice to meet _you_, Bella," Jasper's mom said. I talked with them for as long as I could stand the tension, which wasn't very long.

When I left their frosty bubble, I almost ran right into Esme. I hadn't had a chance to speak with her much at all.

"I'm somehow amused that the television host didn't want to be the party emcee," I said to her.

"I would have loved to," Esme replied with a bitter chuckle. "But I knew I'd need to keep an eye on my family."

"How's it going?" I asked. She'd been worried for some time about how her family would mesh with Jasper's, especially now that they were engaged. I could tell from her face, and the chill I'd just experienced, that things weren't going so well.

"Jasper's grandmother and mine have already had words," she said. "I thought Mother would be the problem, but she's been great. It's Aunt Helen; she's being so difficult. She's_ not _getting along with Jasper's mom at all."

"It's easy for me to say, Esme, but you can't worry about them," I told her. "At the end of the day, you and Jasper have the relationship, and if your aunt or anyone else can't accept that, it's their loss."

"I know," she said. "But I'm just a little tired of always having to live my life around my family. I hoped they could be civil for one afternoon, but I guess that was too much to ask for." I gave her a hug because she looked like she needed one. She quickly walked away, and I felt horrible for her. I wanted to find Jasper, but he appeared to be trying to calm down his other aunt.

"You really do look just like Jasper," I said to his youngest brother Riley when I got to his table.

"I look way better than that jackass," he said, flashing a grin just like Jasper's. I laughed with him for a bit and met the rest of Jasper's group. Quite a few people had come to see my favorite social psychologist: his parents, his grandmother, two aunts and two uncles, his middle brother and his very pregnant wife, and his youngest brother and his girlfriend. Then there was Maria, Carmen, and Carmen's mom. Something told me they'd come to see Esme as much as Jasper to check out the woman who was taking away their own.

"You look so young!" Rose's mom, Tanya, said when I got to her table. Like her daughter had done earlier, she looked me up and down. Tanya's gaze was much more critical than Rose's had been, but she gave me a fake smile anyway. I met Rose's dad, and the last of her siblings I hadn't met, her brother Austin, before I moved to a table with some of Edward's family.

"Where's he taking you?" I asked Angie, Edward's sister. She'd been here all week, but her husband hadn't. I met him, and they informed me that they were leaving to go on vacation tomorrow.

"He won't tell me," she replied. "But I can't wait."

"Yeah, it's not like you've been on vacation all week or anything," Edward said with a smirk. He grimaced when she punched him _hard_ in the arm.

"Don't you just love my brother?" Angie asked as everyone at the table laughed.

"We actually _do_ love him," I said with a grin. "So don't rough him up too badly."

The last people I met were the two babysitters who were set up in the den with playpens and a swing to watch Edward's 6-month-old triplet nieces, and Rose's 3-year-old niece and 3-month old nephew. Even the babies seemed to be having a great time.

I should have known that things were going entirely too well…

* * *

**A/N:**

**1. For anyone interested, I placed a listing of the table seating arrangements on my new blog: gjficfan(dot)blogspot(dot)com.**

**2. For this story, I have retired the "Jasper speak". I liked it, but I felt it was cumbersome after a while. So from now on, I'll just refer to his drawl ;0)**

**3. Part 2 of Chapter 1 should be up soon. The bulk of it is written but needs some tweaks and fleshing out. I hadn't intended to split Chapter 1 but I learned from **_**Wednesday Dinner**_** that I have to go with the flow; there was too much to lump into one chapter.**

**Hope you enjoyed this, and thanks for reading. Let me know what you think!**


	2. Chapter 2

**A/N: Stephenie Meyer owns_ Twilight_. I just mixed up the couples and got them to have a party.**

**Beta Thanks: I feel very lucky indeed to have such an awesome beta. Thank you, ExquisiteEdward, for all that you do! You definitely keep my crazy to a minimum ;0)**

* * *

**Saturday, September 17, 2011: Part 2**

**BPOV**

"I wouldn't be a responsible guest of honor if I didn't try the chocolate and the vanilla," I said. For good measure, I licked my fork clean of any and all cake crumbs.

"I didn't say a word," Em replied. "Eat all you want. I'll help you burn off the extra calories."

"How would you do that?" I asked as I looked up at him and batted my eyes.

"I think some leg lifts, thigh squeezes, and hip flexes should do the trick," he said, grinning widely at me. "Supervised by me, of course. I suggest a_ lot_ of reps, you know, for good muscle tone."

"When you two are done," Jane said through tight lips, "Emmett, come over and talk to April. She used to be your Sunday school teacher when you were little." We snorted at having been caught having sexy talk by his mom.

After walking around to all the tables and meeting everyone, I'd headed back to my table and "tested" both kinds of birthday cake. Em and I had a few minutes alone as the gang spread out with their families. I'd been wanting to talk to Charlie, but he'd been nowhere to be found. And now that I looked around, I realized that a lot of the older guys, mostly the dads and uncles, were missing as well. I had a very strong feeling I knew where they were, and it involved the clubhouse loft, theater seats, and a projection screen TV.

Before Em and I had time to stand up, Alice walked back to the microphone.

"It's me again," she said. "I have a few more announcements, if everyone could have a seat." Rose, Carlisle, and Caius quickly joined us at the table. Em and I both did a double take at Rose and Caius, who were quietly talking and laughing. This was very odd behavior because Carlisle's intimidating uncle normally treated Rose like she didn't exist. Em looked at me and I shrugged; I had no idea what had caused their new friendship.

"It's about five o'clock now," Alice said. "We have more activities planned, but I know a few people have to leave, and we don't want to hold anyone hostage." Quite a few people chuckled and laughed.

"We're going to take a little break, but before everyone leaves, we wanted to make sure we thanked the catering team, the sitters, and the photographers." We all applauded; I thought it was great that Alice took the time to acknowledge all of them. From what I could tell, and I was the guest of honor, everything had gone perfectly. Esme handed each person a gift bag, and Alice thanked them.

I was astounded when Alice thanked Caius next. Unlike the others who'd reluctantly come forward, he was more than happy to stand before the group and accept all the kudos and praise. From what Alice was saying, not only had Caius arranged a private suite at Safeco field so that everyone could attend a Mariners game Tuesday night, but he'd also invited everyone to his nightclub, _Breaking Dawn_, tonight. He was even arranging the transportation.

"There's a sheet up here on the table if you want to go to the club," Alice said. "Make sure you sign it before you leave."

"Look at your mom," Em whispered. I snorted again when I looked at her; she was clearly trying to convince Sue that they should go, and Sue was just as clearly not interested.

"You know Tanya's going," Rose said to Carlisle, shaking her head. We laughed again.

"How generous of you," Carlisle said with a huge smirk when his uncle returned to the table, gift bag in hand.

"Just trying to show our visitors a good time," Caius said. "And maybe get a little return business in the future."

"Do you wanna go?" Em whispered.

"No," I replied. "I'm tired now. There's no way I'll have the energy."

"Yeah, you should save your energy," he said, wriggling his eyebrows. I reached under the tablecloth and squeezed his inner thigh, very close to his_ friend_. Em hissed and scooted back a little.

"You're gonna pay for that," he whispered in my ear. "You know we can't do shit with all these people here."

"Next time, don't start what you can't finish," I said with a wink. Before he could say anything else, our attention was pulled away by the gasps around our table. Caius had opened his gift bag.

"We really are_ criminally_ good-looking," Carlisle said as the rest of us laughed. Caius still hadn't spoken as he stared at his gift: a large picture of himself and Carlisle that was framed in rustic-looking wood. The picture must have been taken at the Wednesday dinner at Rose and Carlisle's that Esme's family and Caius had attended. In the image, both men were standing on the patio; Carlisle's hand was on his uncle's shoulder as they flashed their "we-know-we're-the-shit" grins.

"Your two favorite people in the world," Rose said to Caius. Her comment finally made him look up, and he smiled at her.

"This is perfect," Caius said softly. It was a little unnerving to see him so moved; he was normally so blunt... and mean... and aggressive.

"I was hoping we could find a way to get everybody to a game," Em said. "And you made it happen. So, that's just a little something to thank you."

Caius nodded but never took his eyes off the picture. I got the feeling that Caius didn't get many gifts from anyone other than Carlisle. Finally, Caius shook his head and carefully put the picture back into its box and into the bag.

"... catering crew is leaving soon," Alice was saying. "They're putting all the leftovers in the kitchen, so help yourselves. That's all for now. For those who want to do the raffles and games, meet back here at 5:30." I was hoping Alice would finally take a break and sit down so I could talk to her, but as soon as she put the mike down, one of the babysitters rushed up to her.

"How 'bout a hand for Alice and Esme?" Em stood up and yelled to the room. There was thunderous applause; Alice did a little curtsy while Esme blushed. I stood to go find Charlie but sat right back down because Leah and Jake were suddenly standing right next to me.

"We're leaving soon," my sister said.

"Why?" I asked.

"Race," Jake said.

"Say no more," I replied with a chuckle.

"Be right back," Jake said to Leah. "I think Seth wanted to go." She walked away too, probably headed to one of the bathrooms.

"Dirt bikes," Em said when he saw Carlisle and Caius's confused expressions.

"I want to see him race someday," Rose said. "One of the mechanics at work says Jake's really good."

"Leah doesn't worry about him racing?" Carlisle asked. Em and I laughed at the same time.

"She used to ride too," I said. "My sister was wild when we were younger. You have no idea."

"Is this a professional circuit?" Caius asked knowingly.

"It may or may not be sanctioned," Em replied with a smirk as Caius grinned. Before there was any more talk of Jake's possibly illegal bike racing, two visitors arrived at the table.

"Hate to interrupt," Alice said, "but someone asked for you, _CC_." Alice, who could hardly contain her grin, was carrying Nettie, Rose's three-year-old niece. When Carlisle took her from Alice, Nettie's pout changed to a huge grin.

"CC, I look for you," the little girl said. She hugged him and completely ignored Rose.

"I'm here," he said as he kissed her cheek. "What happened?"

"I not a baby!" she said with a very high level of indignation for someone as tiny as she was. Rose, Caius, Em, and I tried to stifle our laughs; Alice had already walked away.

"I know!" Carlisle said. "You're a big girl, and they put you with the babies. Did they give you any birthday cake back there?" Her head whipped around, and her eyes lit up when she saw one of the several pieces of cake on the table.

"I yike cake," she said enthusiastically. Carlisle fed her a bite, and she perked up right away.

"When she's bouncing off the walls tonight, I'm blaming you," Rose said, grinning.

"Don't be mad at me because I have a way with children," Carlisle replied. We all laughed, even Caius, who couldn't seem to stop smiling at little Nettie. Maybe he needed to go to surprise parties more often if they made him this happy.

"Please can I go? Please, _please_?" Irina begged, appearing at our table out of nowhere. "Henry's going too!" Rose's baby sister was practically bouncing in place.

"I can't let you go to a night club," Rose said.

"Not to the club," Irina replied. "To the bike race! Everybody's going." Now that I looked, everyone at the young table was standing and preparing to leave, including Seth, Jasper's youngest brother Riley, Vera's son and nephew, Jake's little sisters and their boyfriends, and Kim and Collin, the two youngest members on Leah's team.

"I don't know, Reenie," Rose said, although it clearly pained her to say no to her sister. Irina looked devastated, so I did what I could to help.

"I've been before, Rose," I said. "It's kind of an underground thing, but the people involved are serious about it; some of the riders turn pro. The crowd's a little rough-looking, but there's never any big trouble. Jake wouldn't do it if there were any nasty types involved."

"Where is it?" Rose asked.

"Kind of out in the woods," Em said which caused Rose to snort and roll her eyes. I smirked at Em's vague description; there were woods everywhere. But I also knew that the group tried to keep the location secret as much as possible.

"The guy who runs it owns all the land," Em continued. "It's just a couple of big crazy dirt tracks, and a bunch of people watching. There's music and stuff too. I've been plenty of times. It's harmless."

"I'll be there," Leah said as she returned. "She'll be fine. We'll just be watching. They don't let us near their precious bikes."

"I'm sure it's not as innocent as you make it sound," Rose said, looking around the table at us before she turned back to her sister. "But you can go." Irina threw her arms around Rose's neck in thanks.

I could easily see why Irina was a television star; she was very beautiful in an innocent, fresh-faced way. Irina had an ethereal beauty; she was pale and wispy with straight, flowing platinum-blonde hair. It was hard for me to believe that she was related to the rest of the women in her family, all of whom dressed in a way that overtly flaunted their assets.

"BUT," Rose added sternly, "don't wander off by yourself. Don't eat or drink _anything_ anybody tries to give you. And if anyone recognizes you..."

"If anybody recognized her there, they'd get laughed outta the place. They'd never admit it," Jake said as he returned to the table.

"Hurry up then, and leave through the front before Tanya sees you," Rose said. Irina nodded and dashed off.

"Rose," I said when the whole group left, "it's crazy how your whole family treats you like the mother."

"Can you blame them?" she replied as she rolled her eyes. We all turned to look at her mother across the room who was monopolizing a conversation with several other women. Tanya was dressed in skin-tight jeans, a tight t-shirt with some designer's name on the front, and sky-high heels. Not that a woman in her fifties couldn't dress that way, but Tanya just didn't give off a motherly vibe. She seemed far too self-absorbed.

"Did she get that out of your closet?" I asked. Caius and Carlisle howled with laughter, Rose gave me the finger before she started laughing too, and Em failed miserably in his attempts not to laugh. Nettie laughed because we were all laughing.

"You have no idea how sheltered Reenie is," Rose said when we finished laughing. "I really didn't want to let her go. She's so naive, but Tanya never lets her do anything fun, unless it's related to the show." Having been dragged kicking and screaming by Leah to a few of those bike races, I wouldn't necessarily classify them as fun, but it would definitely be something different for Irina to experience.

"Hey, if Ma asks, I'm at the bike thing with Jake and Lee," Seth said, finally making his way over.

"I doubt she'll notice," I said. "She's having a blast." Sue was at the table beside us, talking to Vera and Emily, the wife of Leah's boss. All three were doubled over laughing. Sue was generally somber, having never really come to grips with the death of her first husband. She was happy with Charlie, but she didn't often let loose like this.

"I like seeing her laugh," Seth said. "This party was great. I hope I'm around in ten years when you have your next good idea." He looked directly at Em, and we cracked up laughing.

"Get outta here, little shit," Em said as Seth grinned and jogged out of the room.

"I'm gonna go find Charlie," I said.

"And I better get over to Ma," Em said. We said our goodbyes to the Cullens at the table and parted ways.

Upstairs, as I suspected, I found eight grizzled guys, including Charlie. Some, including Jasper's dad and two uncles, were reclined in the spacious theater seats. Others, like Edward's dad, Tony, were talking about whatever game they were watching on the huge screen.

"I'm not offended at all that you guys hid yourselves away at my party," I said.

"It wasn't personal, kiddo," Charlie said. "There's only so much socializing old guys like us can take." I sat next to Charlie and kissed his cheek, as the others oohed and awwed behind us. I could tell this was a fun bunch.

"How could you not tell me?" I asked.

"It was nice to get something over on you for once," my dad said with a smirk. "I'm glad you decided to enjoy yourself and have a good time. Emmett put a lot of work into this."

"I couldn't embarrass my dad and act ungrateful," I said as he laughed. I smiled at him goofily; I loved my dad and was glad he was having a good time. He was not adjusting well to retirement, and like Sue, was often somber as a result.

"I'm glad to finally see this," he said as he lifted my hand and looked at my engagement ring. "I'm happy you came to your senses about getting married. What changed your mind?"

"I don't know," I said. I was speaking quietly so as not to disturb the others, but I could tell I had an audience nonetheless. "I guess I was afraid that things would change, and I like what we have now. But it's important to Em, and being around Alice and Edward, and Rose and Carlisle, I guess I see that marriage doesn't have to change anything."

"Smart girl," Charlie said.

"I see you didn't need a giant rock like my son had to buy," said Terry, Jasper's dad, as he peered over my shoulder and examined my ring.

"Jas wouldn't tell me what it cost," one of the uncles said. "You know that's bad." And that opened the floodgates on a big discussion of how much the men thought Esme's ring cost and how big and unnecessary they thought it was.

I was surprised they'd noticed, but she had been in front of the room with Alice all day, and her ring was very noticeable. My ring had a center round diamond with smaller surrounding diamonds, set into a scalloped border. It almost looked like a flower; I absolutely loved it. Esme's ring, however, consisted of a single huge diamond; there was no decoration or other embellishment. It _was_ a big rock, albeit a beautiful one, held in place by its setting.

I opened my mouth to reply, to try to say that Esme didn't make Jasper buy that ring, but I decided to keep quiet. Anything I said would have made it worse. Apparently, the guys were curious about a few other things as well.

"When's the wedding?" Tony asked. "Are we invited?"

"Em wants it on New Year's day," I said. "So that's only a few months away. And of course you're all invited."

"Where?" Mark asked. "I know you're too big time for Forks now." Mark had worked with Charlie on the Forks police force for years, and was like another father to me. I knew his wife April as well, and was glad they'd both come. I grinned at him as I replied.

"It doesn't take much to be too big time for Forks." Mark and Charlie laughed as did the others.

"Seriously, I don't know," I said. "It'll be in Seattle somewhere, but we haven't made any plans yet."

"If anybody can pull off a wedding that soon, it's Alice and Esme," Tony said.

"They'll have to fight my wife and my ex for that job," Charlie said. He was right about that. Sue and my mom were extremely excited about my upcoming nuptials.

"I like that Alice," Jasper's other uncle said. "Little as she is, she gets shit done." All the guy's agreed. I noticed that Peter, who was dating Alice's aunt Chelsea, wasn't smiling like the others.

"Don't worry," I said to him as I tried not to laugh. "Give her time. We didn't hit it off in the beginning, and now we're like sisters."

"For my sake, I hope you're right," Peter replied with a warm smile. "I don't think I've ever been afraid of somebody who doesn't even weigh a hundred pounds." Again, the guys laughed. Alice's aunt was the only relative she ever spoke of, and it sounded like Alice wasn't exactly receptive yet to her aunt's boyfriend. Poor guy.

"All right," I said. "I'll leave you guys..." I stood, not wanting to make them miss their game, but they had other plans... and questions.

"Who's Heidi?" Mark asked as if I hadn't spoken. I sat back down. "She seems so close to Emmett, but I don't know who she is."

"Felix's fiancée," I replied.

"Oh," he said with a raised eyebrow. I knew he wanted to ask more, but he just grinned and kept it to himself. Forks was a small town and Felix was its biggest star; I'm sure he'd heard that Felix was engaged, but a small detail like Heidi's name clearly hadn't made its way around the small town.

"Is she the, uh, chesty one?" Frank, Vera's brother, asked.

"Yes, that's her," I said.

"Is her friend a, um, dancer?" Mark asked as the others snickered.

"Yes, she is," I replied. I knew they wanted to say more on the subject of Heidi and Fallon, but thankfully they left it alone.

"Is Tanya some kind of celebrity?" Tony asked. "She kept walking around talking about Hollywood and LA."

"No," I replied when I stopped laughing. "Her daughter Irina is. She's the one with the long white blonde hair. Tanya's her momager." The guys laughed boisterously at the term I'd learned from Rose.

"We went to high school with Tanya," Vera's brother said, smiling and shaking his head. "In her mind, she was always a celebrity."

"What does Irina do?" Terry asked. "I saw Maria talking to her for the longest time, and I couldn't figure out how she knew her."

"She's an actress," I said. "She has some cheerleading show on Tween TV."

"Goddamn_ Cheer Camp_," one of Jasper's uncles said. Terry's face lit up in recognition.

"I can't tell you how many times we have waited on that child while she finished watching that show," he said with a grin. The uncles smiled as well.

"I love how a ten-year-old has all you big guys on her schedule," I said, laughing my ass off.

"That's my only grandbaby," Terry said sheepishly. "I admit, she's a little spoiled."

"Jasper once told us that his dad didn't talk very much," I said. "Care to explain yourself?" Terry laughed quite loudly and so did the uncles.

"I talk when I feel like it," he said with his son's trademark grin. "Today, I feel like it." Again, I stood and attempted to leave, but they kept talking.

"I bet there's a long waiting list to reserve this place on a weekend," Charlie said.

"Believe it or not, this is only the second time I've ever seen it used. People really stay to themselves around here. If Alice and Edward hadn't had that sale, we probably wouldn't have met."

"I'd make up a reason to have parties here," Peter said. The rest of the guys agreed.

We talked for at least a half hour more and I was finding myself quite in love with all the dads, uncles, and friends. I stayed with them, answering their questions and laughing, until Alice loudly called for me to come down and open my gifts. Very reluctantly, I dragged myself away.

* * *

I loved all of my gifts. Someone had spread the word that I liked journals: blank, lined, decorative, it didn't matter. I received several truly beautiful ones, and so many bookstore gift cards I lost count, all of which was fine by me because that meant I could buy more books and journals.

Alice started the raffles and games, as I gathered up my gifts. I noticed that Esme was nowhere to be found. I was about to sit at my table when I noticed Renée, Vera, and Sue all staring at me with grins and smirks. They wanted to talk.

"You rang," I said when I reached their table. They laughed.

"We want a good look at that ring!" Renée said, grabbing my hand.

"Emmett did _not_ pick this on his own," Sue said with a chuckle.

"He had a little help from Alice and Esme," I said. "But they all insist that he picked it out. I love it."

"It's beautiful," Vera said. "I hope I can help plan the wedding. I never had a daughter. You're my only hope."

"Take it up with these two," I replied, pointing at my mom and Sue. "I'm pretty sure they'll be in charge." Both my mothers grinned excitedly.

"I suppose we'll have to let Jane help too," Renée said with a grimace.

"You didn't tell us Jane the righteous was living with Waylon now," Sue said with a raised eyebrow.

"I don't know how long it's been going on," I said. "But as long as he keeps the frown off her face, and her off my back, I'm all for it."

"It's all over town that she's not teaching this semester," Sue said. "Your dad and I went over to see her a few weeks ago, and she said she wasn't ready to start teaching yet. We knew we'd see her here, but we didn't know she was moving to Seattle with him." I simply shrugged my shoulders. I had enough on my plate trying to figure out what was going on in Em's head. I couldn't have cared less what was going on in his mother's.

"Is she happy about the engagement?" Vera asked.

"I have no idea," I said. "You never really know with her. We talked to her the night Em proposed, and all she said was 'How nice for you'."

"Well, we won't let her ruin this for us," Renée said. "I mean, for you." The four of us laughed, because we all knew that what my mom said first was really what she meant. This wedding was for our families; I'd already accepted this.

"So where are you thinking of...," Sue said.

"Nooo way," I said as I interrupted her with a chuckle. "I'm not answering any wedding questions today."

"That's fine," Sue replied. "We'll pick this up tomorrow." I groaned and left them as they started tossing out ideas for my wedding.

My next mission was finding Esme... and Jasper. I didn't see either of their mothers or grandmothers, or any of their aunts. That was not a good sign. Even with the guys up in the loft, the ten or so people who'd left to go see Jake's race, and the now-missing Platt and Whitlock women, there was still a large raucous group assembled in front of Alice as she led the raffle and games. I was thankful because no one would miss me.

Unfortunately, my mission didn't last very long. The shouting right outside the back entrance led me to the group I was looking for. On one side of the walkway stood Esme's grandmother and her Aunt Helen. On the other stood Jasper's mother Sharon, her sister Joanne, their sister-in-law Lynn the minister, and Mae, Jasper's tiny little grandmother. Esme and Jasper were kind of in the middle of the two groups, and Esme's mother, Sara, stood beside her. As I got closer, I could hear their argument.

"... mistaken if you think my only grandchild is getting married in whatever hick town you come from," Esme's grandmother said. Her tone was cold and vicious.

"We don't want the likes of you in our_ hick town_ anyway!" Jasper's grandmother shouted.

"Let's all calm..." Jasper was interrupted by Esme's aunt.

"It's really not their fault, Mother," Helen said nastily. "They can't imagine the type of wedding_ we_ would have. They have nothing in their little world to compare it to."

"Aunt Helen, please!" Esme screamed, tears pouring down her face. Jasper tried to speak again, but his mother spoke over him this time.

"Here's the thing," Sharon shouted. "My son_ is_ getting married, in the same church, in the same _hick_ town, that was good enough for everybody else in my family. So if that don't work for you, don't bother coming!"

This was all like a scene from some crazy movie; had I not been watching with my own eyes, I'd never have believed it. I had some pretty intense family members myself, but I'd never seen anything like this. Almost everyone but the guys up in the loft had drifted outside and were watching; we were all too shocked to do anything. The combatants didn't care.

"If you had any sense, you'd beg for our help," Helen screamed. "You need all the class you can get!"

"Aunt Helen, stop it! Please," Esme cried. "The wedding will be in Texas. It's what we want."

"You are weak-minded, just like your mother!" her grandmother spat. Esme, already crying and shaky looking, began sobbing loudly. Jasper quickly pulled her into his arms. I'd never seen him at a loss for words before, but he was now.

By this point, Esme's uncle and grandfather, the former senator, had come out and attempted to pull their wives back inside. Both women snatched their arms away.

"The gal just told you what she wants," Jasper's grandmother yelled. "Let that be the end of it!"

"It's not the end, until _I_ say so," Esme's grandmother shouted back. "And I say this wedding will_ not_ happen. I won't allow it!" Esme's mom replied before Jasper's family could.

"I know you don't care about my feelings, Ann," Sara said to Esme's grandmother. "You've made that clear over the years. But this is about Esme. Not me, not you, not Helen. She's happy with Jasper, and he seems like a good man. It's up to them where they get married." Caius walked over and hugged her as she wiped away her tears.

"Amen," Jasper's aunt Joanne said. "They're grown, and they can do what they want. It's not about what we want; it's up to them."

"This is exactly what Esme was afraid of," Alice whispered from beside me. I looked around, and Edward, Rose, and Carlisle were right near her and Em was right behind me. They all wore matching grim expressions.

"My son signed your prenup, so your precious money is protected," Sharon said bitterly. "You have no say in the wedding. They can have whatever they want, and _we'll_ help them."

"Come along, Helen," Esme's grandmother said. "I will not be spoken to like this._ Especially_ not by people who'd be working for _us_ back home."

I was sure the collective gasp that went through the clubhouse could have been heard in outer space. Equally loud were the insults from Jasper's family. "Fucking rich bitches!" was the nicest of the comments I heard the Whitlock women yell as the Platt women walked to the parking lot, noses literally stuck in the air.

Helen's husband George followed them, and in a scene that was more shocking than what we'd already witnessed, he appeared to chastise his wife and mother-in-law for their behavior. There were words exchanged between them before he walked back toward us. Helen and Ann got into their car and sped away.

"All right, that's enough!" yelled Jasper's aunt Lynn to silence the pissed-off Texans. "All we can do is pray for them. And they need _all_ the prayer they can get!"

Alice ran over to Esme, who'd started walking away with Jasper toward the condos. Alice was back after just a few words.

"She'll be back," Alice said. "She doesn't want this to ruin the party." We all shook our heads, but that was Esme: always thinking of everyone else first.

"Sharon, Lynn," Esme's grandfather said after he'd collected himself. "I don't know what to say." Like George, he appeared upset about the behavior he'd witnessed from his wife and daughter.

"You can start with sorry," Jasper's grandmother replied. "Then, you can shut the hell up. You're just like them. We don't wanna hear your political bullshit." I heard Em and several others snort behind me.

"Nan!" Lynn said sharply. "That's enough!" I was pretty sure that Mae was the mother of Lynn as well as Jasper's dad Terry, but they all called her "Nan".

"We_ do_ apologize," George said. "I know that this is the first time we're all meeting, and we do think this relationship has moved a little fast. But some of the things my wife said..."

"...and mine," the senator interrupted.

"...were completely uncalled for," George said, shaking his head. "All we want is for Esme to be happy."

"My son deserves to be happy too," Sharon snapped, with her arms tightly crossed. "He shouldn't be called a low-class hick by what's supposed to be his new family."

"_Sharon_," Lynn said in warning as she glared at Jasper's mom.

"You're absolutely right," the senator said after he let out a long sigh. "All I can do is apologize again, and ask you not to hold this against Esme. She doesn't think like that. Please don't hold this against my granddaughter." Some of Jasper's family still glared at him, but some seemed to accept his apology.

I believed that he really did feel badly about what just happened, and I appreciated what he said. It wasn't that he'd suddenly had some epiphany; we'd met Esme's family, and they were _all_ snobs to some degree. But having been in politics, he understood that even if you didn't like people and talked about them behind closed doors, you just couldn't belittle them to their faces which is exactly what his wife and daughter had done. He loved Esme, and he realized that Helen and Ann's words had just guaranteed that all future interactions with the Whitlocks would be awkward and difficult... or worse.

"Thank you," Lynn said. "This never had to get so nasty, and we apologize if we said anything insulting to your family too." Jasper's mother, other aunt, and grandmother rolled their eyes at her and tutted a little, but they didn't say anything else. George and the senator talked with them a little longer before walking toward the parking lot to talk alone.

Sue, Renée, and Liz, Edward's mom, went over and talked with the Whitlock women, while the rest of us quit gawking. I smiled and shook my head when I realized that all of the guys up in the loft had missed out on the drama.

"The moral of this story is, don't fuck with Jasper's family," Em said, causing all of us to laugh. We weren't laughing for long when we saw the scene unfolding beside us.

"Awww," Rose whispered as she grabbed my hand. Maria was crying, having witnessed the scene, and her parents were talking to her to calm her down.

"I don't want Nan to be upset," Maria said. "She might have a heart attack and die." She wiped her eyes as she clung to her dad Liam.

While Jasper and his younger brother Riley could almost be twins, Liam didn't look like them in the slightest, other than being tall and blonde like they were. He was heavier than his brothers, and wore his hair short. He looked like their mom though she was much shorter, while Jasper and Riley looked like their dad. Liam was still a looker though; he and Carmen were a pretty good-looking pair, except they weren't a pair anymore. Liam's wife was looking none too pleased by their interaction.

"Nan's tough," Liam told his daughter. "She'll be fine. You know she likes a good fight." He honestly didn't seem concerned at all.

"It's okay, sweetie," Carmen said. "She was just standing up for uncle Jas."

"Why don't they like him?" Maria asked. "He's great."

"They don't think he's good enough," Carmen said. "They don't think we're good enough for their family."

"They don't even know us," she said sadly. Rose was crying beside me; it really was breaking my heart to see little Maria crying.

"We talked about how some people don't like us because we're Mexican, didn't we?" Carmen asked. Maria nodded her head.

"And some people don't like uncle Riley cuz he's got all those tattoos," Liam said. "It's the same thing with Esme's family. They don't know us, but we're not rich like them and they don't like it. What did I say about people like that?"

"It's their problem, not ours," Maria said.

"That's right," Liam said. "But Esme's a nice lady, and we can't hold it against her how her family feels, okay?"

"She's nice, I won't," Maria said. Carmen whispered something to her in Spanish and Maria smiled.

"Liam, do you really think your grandmother's okay?" Alice asked before he walked away. "There's an urgent care center nearby." He actually laughed.

"That was nothing," he said dismissively, still laughing. "She's a tough ole bird. Y'all shoulda seen her when we told her she couldn't drive anymore." And with that he walked away.

"Alice, Edward, we're gonna take Sharon and Mae back to your place, is that okay?" Liz asked. "Sharon's still upset, and we think Mae should lay down." Jasper's grandmother looked like she was about to go kick some ass; I highly doubted anyone was going to get her to lie down.

"Sure, it's fine," Alice said.

"I'll go too," Edward said. "I'm sure Tempo and Fresco need to get out for a while."

"Our place is closer," I said.

"Uh, thanks," Liz said awkwardly. "But their place is fine, Bella." I must have looked hurt because Alice chimed in as Liz walked away.

"Don't be offended," Alice said with a smirk. "She just means that we've got drinks at our house, and you don't." That was true. I drank very rarely, and Em only drank beer. But I'd banned all alcohol from the house until Em's eating habits got back to normal, and he got stronger and healthy again.

"But you and Edward don't drink much," I replied.

"Liz likes a little wine in the evening," Alice said. "And Tony made a liquor run almost as soon as he got here. They're not drunks or anything, but they like their beverages."

"Alice, please forgive the interruption," Esme's uncle George said as he and the senator surprisingly returned. "We hope the party's not over because of us."

"Not at all," she said. They nodded and walked back inside. Alice, Em, Rose, Carlisle and I followed.

"Folks," Alice said into the microphone, "if you thought you were coming here today to sing _Kumbaya_ you were obviously wrong." Everyone left downstairs howled with laughter. "But I think today went as well as can be expected, and Esme would want the show to go on. Give me a few more minutes, and we'll get started again."

I was surprised when she ran to her station in the corner, and returned with a gift bag which she sat directly in front of me.

"We were gonna do this earlier," Alice said. "But I totally forgot, and then everything got out of hand." I watched as she carefully pulled out several books wrapped in tissue paper.

"We wanted the centerpiece for this table to have old books; we knew you'd appreciate that," she said. "But we didn't want to leave them out in case any drinks spilled. Don't worry, we didn't touch them, we always used a cloth or something when we worked with them. Make sure you read the card." I gasped out loud when the books were revealed, and Carlisle looked at me in amazement.

"Could you go get Gran?" I asked Em. He nodded, and dashed off.

"What can I do to help, Alice?" Rose asked as Carlisle and I continued to stare at the incredible works in front of me.

"Nothing. I'm ready to start," Alice replied. She walked to the front, picked up the mike, and sat on one of the barstools from the kitchen.

"Who's ready for more raffles?" she shouted into the microphone. There were hoots and cheers all around. I guess some people really liked that sort of thing. Just like that, it was a party again.

"My goodness!" Gran said when she arrived at the table. She sat next to me, and Em went and sat next to Rose.

"Here, I've got my gloves," Carlisle said as he handed them to me. They were loose on me, but they would do. The three of us took our time as we gingerly examined the three first-edition books, in excellent condition, that had been bundled together: _The Scarlet Letter, Paradise Lost,_ and_ Casino Royale_.

"I didn't know that was a book first," Rose whispered.

"Me neither," Em whispered in reply. "That's why we're friends." I had to smile too as they cracked up laughing.

"Look at the spine," Carlisle said of one book.

"There's been some restoration here," Gran said of another. "But it's a first issue. This is beautiful."

"I can't believe it has its cloth box," I said of the third. "And look at the endpapers, and the gilt here." We were so absorbed by our inspections that we didn't hear Caius behind us.

"I know someone who'd buy that Milton right now, no matter the cost," he said.

"Where did Alice get these?" Carlisle asked.

"Guess I should read the card," I replied.

_Dear Bella,_

_Alice is my hair stylist, and she's become like a daughter to me. When she asked if I had any "old books" that she might borrow for her friend's party, I asked for more information. She told me that you've spent your life studying and appraising books. The way she spoke of you indicated to me that the value you place on these treasures is not solely measured by money._

_If this bundle means anything to you, then I'm sure you'll be interested in meeting with me. Please arrange it with Alice. Happy birthday, dear one!_

_Sincerely,_

_Lucy Walsh_

"There you are then," Carlisle said as he and his uncle exchanged looks.

"Who is she?" I asked. They were obviously itching to say something.

"Only one of the richest women in Seattle," Carlisle said nonchalantly. "No big deal." He and Caius laughed.

"I mean if she can loan out fifty grand worth of books to someone she doesn't even know, I think that tells you something," Caius said. It did indeed.

"Leave the valuations to us, fellas," Gran said as we exchanged a look. "These beauties are worth a _bit_ more than that."

When Alice gave out the last set of bookends and the games were over, we practically pounced on her when she sat down at the table. But instead of being excited like we were, she was mortified.

"I didn't know they were worth that much!" she shrieked. "Oh my god! I would have never asked!"

"How'd you get in good with old lady Walsh?" Caius asked her.

"_Mrs._ Walsh is one of my clients," she replied testily. "She's a very sweet woman, and it was nice of her to do this." She glared at Caius, and he held up his hands in surrender. Carlisle and I laughed.

"I didn't know they were worth that much. She's got so many books all over the place, I didn't think it would matter. I hope she doesn't think..." Alice looked very distraught, and I had to ease her mind.

"Read this before you worry yourself to death," I said as I handed her the card. I watched her face light up as she read Mrs. Walsh's words.

"Bella, she doesn't just invite anyone to her home," Alice said. "You have to go."

"I'm there, just let me know when," I replied.

"I'd love to go," Gran said. "Do you think she'd mind?"

"Not when she finds out how much you know about books too. I'll arrange it for this week," Alice said. Gran looked ecstatic.

"Can I come too, pretty please?" Carlisle asked, batting his eyelashes as we laughed. This had actually turned into _quite_ a party.

Apparently, Edward was back because Tempo ran into the clubhouse straight for Alice. She scooped him up as everyone chuckled at the puppy, and she went outside to talk to Edward who watched as several of the other guests played with Fresco.

"Did you go over to Esme's?" Rose asked Caius. "How is she?" He rolled his eyes in disgust.

"She's fine," he said. "The way they baby that woman is ridiculous. It's no wonder she can't stand on her own two feet. She'd never be able to manage your life, Rose. She couldn't handle it." Again, Rose beamed up at him. My anger at what he'd said about Esme was overcome by shock at their interaction. Em looked at me again, and I shrugged. I had no idea what caused today's Caius-Rose lovefest. I didn't have long to think about it because for the second time today, the festivities were disrupted by shouting.

"_WHERE_ IS IRINA?" Tanya demanded as she stood across from Rose. Tanya looked livid; her voice had literally made me jump. Before Rose could say a word, Caius stood and responded.

"She's with some of the other young people, and she's perfectly fine," he said. "There's no need for you to cause a scene, or speak to Rose like that."

"First of all, I wasn't talking to you," Tanya replied, narrowing her eyes and putting her hands on her hips. "She's my child, and she's only seventeen. _And_ she's famous! She could get mobbed if she went out somewhere unprepared. If something happens..."

"In case you haven't noticed," Caius said, matching her tone and volume, "this is a private party in a private neighborhood. Unless you called the media yourself, which I wouldn't put past you, nobody even knows she's in Seattle." We all knew that Irina wasn't exactly at the party anymore, but that was neither here nor there.

"And just how do you know where she is anyway?" Tanya yelled. Rose was watching them, speechless, while Carlisle was laughing and not even trying to hide it.

"Instead of making a scene, maybe you should think about how eager your daughter was to get away from you," Caius said. I loved how he never answered her question. Tanya was fuming and was about to reply when Rose's sister Victoria appeared at our table.

"Reenie's fine," Vicky said. "Let her have a little fun. By the time I was seventeen..."

"We all know what you'd been up to by that age," Tanya said, turning her ire to her oldest daughter. "We don't need a reminder. And don't get me started on you bringing Robby here. I'll talk to you about that later. Right now..."

"Unlike you, Tanya," Vicky shouted, "most people change and grow up." Rose's dad and brother hurried over and pulled them outside as they kept right on arguing.

"I know she's your mother," Caius said to Rose. "But someone needs to shut her up for good."

"Uncle Cai, everybody already thinks you're in the mob," Carlisle said. "Comments like that don't help." Caius barked out a laugh as Rose stared at him with an expression that could only be described as tender. I was starting to get freaked out by the behavior of the former enemies.

* * *

"Okay!" I said. "There's no need to push!"

"Stay out here 'til we're done," Em said. "You don't clean up at your own party. Don't get Tiny worked up again."

I had just been physically removed from the clubhouse by Em, after having been threatened by Alice, all because the delivery guys had come to pick up the tables and linens, and I'd tried to help clean up. Esme and Jasper had returned; we'd thought about watching the debut of Esme's new show, but she'd been so subdued when she came back that we hadn't. So the whole gang, minus me, was inside putting the clubhouse back in order. I'd been banned from entering until they were done, so I decided to walk around a little.

Unbelievably, even though it was almost eight and the sun had set, only the oldest and youngest guests had left. Gran and Dorothy were staying at the swanky Fairmont Hotel, a treat to themselves as Gran called it; they'd left with the senator and his friends a little while ago. Sara and Caius left as well. Some of the crowd that was closer to my age, like Heidi, Carmen, and Vera's niece Tori, had driven off to who knows where.

The remainder of the guests were mostly my parents' age, and none of them appeared ready to end the evening, but they _were_ fractioning off into groups. Vera and her family were heading to Rose and Carlisle's to continue catching up with Tanya and Rose's dad. The rest of Jasper's family was going to Alice and Edward's to meet up with the Whitlock women, and Charlie, Sue, Jane, Waylon, and all of the people with a Forks connection were still inside the clubhouse talking and laughing. Forks was only so big; I didn't know what all there was to talk about for so long.

I wandered around to the front of the clubhouse where I found Em's dad Steve sitting on a bench talking to Vera who was standing in front of him.

"...can't leave you out here," Vera was saying. "Come on and go."

"I'm good," he replied. "I'll go back inside soon."

"I didn't think you wanted to stay in there," Vera said, motioning toward the clubhouse. I knew what she meant. Charlie, Mark, and the Forks crew knew the old irresponsible Steve; I didn't think they'd rub it in his face, but I knew he wouldn't want to deal with all their questions either.

"You can come up to our place," I said. "I'll walk you up."

"I'd love that," he said as he instantly stood up.

"Okay," Vera said. "We'll call you right before we leave." They kissed quickly, and he watched her walk inside.

"I like Vera," I said as Steve and I walked up the sidewalk.

"Me too," he said with a smirk. We walked in comfortable silence, and I thought about what a hard day this must have been for him. A month or so ago, Steve was in rehab, trying to kick a real addiction. Now, he'd been immersed in a crazy mixed-up giant extended family all day, when he'd spent most of his life alone. I applauded him for coming, and didn't blame him for not wanting to deal with even more conversation. A car horn disrupted my thoughts as we were about to enter my building.

"Hey!" I said to Henry and Irina who were dropping off Seth.

"You didn't get mobbed by the paparazzi, did you?" Steve asked Irina with a smirk. Henry and Seth laughed.

"Oh my god," Irina said. "I heard my mom made a big scene. I'm so embarrassed."

"Did you have fun?" I asked her.

"So much!" she said. "It was nice to not be noticed for once." We said our goodbyes; we knew we'd see them tomorrow. This was going to be a loooong weekend.

* * *

"Don't bother coming back down here," Em said. "I'll be home soon. We're just about done."

"I'm kind of glad you said that," I replied. "I'm whipped."

"Drink a Coke or something," he said. "I'll be expecting my thank you."

"I can give that to you right now," I said. "Thanks for the party, babe. It was a blast."

"That wasn't what I had in mind," he said as he laughed. "But we'll work something out. Tiny says don't worry about your gifts. She's sending them with me. See ya soon."

I hung up the phone, grinning like crazy at the thought of my upcoming night. Suddenly, I wasn't so tired anymore. Sue, Charlie, and Seth were staying with us, but they'd be down the hall and we'd just have to be quiet.

"Make yourself at home," I said to Steve when I re-entered the living room.

"I didn't think you'd mind," he said with a grin, holding up a plate with a sandwich and chips; he also had a big glass of lemonade. "Your brother made the sandwiches. How could I refuse?"

"It's no problem," I said. I checked on Seth who was in my office which was also his room when he stayed here. He'd already opened the sofabed and was watching television.

"How was the race?" I asked.

"Good. Jake's way better than the last time I saw him."

"Did you have fun with Irina?" I asked. He looked at me and rolled his eyes.

"I had a good time with everybody," he said.

"But she's nice, don't you think?" I pressed.

"She's okay," he said. "A little young though."

"You're only a couple of months older than she is," I said.

"I'm way more mature though," he said seriously. We grinned at each other before we both fell out laughing. He knew he was a goofball.

"I'll leave you alone then," I said. "I wouldn't be upset if you got to know her a little better. That's all I'm saying."

"Whatever," he snorted. I turned to walk away, and he called me back.

"Hey, Bells?" he said.

"Yeah?"

"I like you like this," he said.

"Like what?"

"Happy." And just like that, my goofy, bigger-than-me little brother almost reduced me to tears.

"You okay?" Steve asked when I walked sniffling into the living room.

"Yeah," I said. "I'm fine." We stared at each other for a bit as I settled onto a chair across from him until I looked away. I probably should have left him alone too, but I didn't want to. I liked Steve; he was so much like Em.

"He seems good," he said after a time. "Emmett. I know I have you to thank for that; I certainly wasn't around."

"You can thank Alice and Edward, and the rest of the gang too," I said. "After the funeral, he'd barely eat, he wouldn't talk, and Jane was driving all of us fucking insane. I didn't know what else to do to help him, but Alice and Edward were able to get through to him in a way that I couldn't."

"I know how Jane is," he said. "I can imagine."

"Was she always like that?" I asked. He gave a grim smile.

"When we were young kids in school, no," he said with a wistful expression. "But her mom died when she was young and her dad was tough as nails... she had a lot on her plate. A long,_ long_ time ago, we were best friends. She had problems with her family, and so did I. When we started dating... that's when things got bad between us. It was just a bad idea, but before we knew it, it was too late." I assumed he meant that they found out they were about to be parents, and they decided to make the best of a bad situation. We all saw how that had worked out.

"I figured something bad happened to make her so angry," I said.

"You said the other day that she was hard on Emmett," Steve remarked. "What did you mean?"

"Nothing he ever did was good enough," I said without hesitation. "And Em's the most decent guy besides my dad I've ever known. All he wanted was a little appreciation. She made excuses for everything Fe ever did wrong, and she downplayed all of the things Em did right. They both ran him down for living his own life."

"They were the only family he had, so I'm sure he took what they said to heart," Steve said sadly. "I wasn't around. It's all he knew."

"That's why Jane and I barely get along, and why I never got along with Felix," I said. "I think you know enough about me to know that I speak my mind. And I never stood by and let them trash him without saying something." Steve smiled and shook his head.

"You remind me of Vera," he said with a smirk. "She says what she means, and means what she says. I don't deserve her. I'm just an old drunk."

"_God_ you're just like Em," I said as he threw back his head and laughed. "He tries to put himself down all the time. I think Vera and I know good men when we see them. So let us make up our own minds, okay?"

"Yeah," he said though he was still smiling.

"I'm really glad you're here," I said. "Maybe you weren't around when he was a kid, but you're here now, and Em needs you. Don't leave him again."

"He might not want me around once the novelty wears off," he whispered.

"He does. Trust me," I said. "We know you're working on yourself, and you might have some setbacks. But he needs you, and I think you need him too. I don't know you very well, but I can see you're a good guy."

"I'm just an old drunk," he said again, as if I hadn't even been talking. "I don't deserve Vera, or Em letting me back in. It's hard."

"They love you," I said. "Faults and all. They know the worst of you, and they still love you. That's pretty important, don't you think? Don't push them away, or me." He stared at me with the saddest expression before he nodded his head and went into the kitchen. I could tell he'd been crying when he returned, but I didn't say anything. We watched television in silence until Em got home about fifteen minutes later.

The excited look on Em's face when he saw his dad confirmed everything I'd said to Steve earlier. Em needed his dad just as much as Steve needed him.

* * *

"Do you fucking hear this?" Alice asked.

"I do," I replied as I tried not to laugh at her.

"I'm in bed with the doors closed, and my in laws and half of Texas are down there laughing it up. Aunt Chelsea's down there too!"

"Don't feel bad," I said. "Vera just picked up Steve, so they only just left Rose's. And Charlie and Sue are _still_ down at the clubhouse."

"Thank goodness we didn't plan anything for early tomorrow," she said. "At this rate, I'll never get to sleep."

Em was in the shower and I'd called Alice to thank her since there hadn't been much of a chance to talk to her all day. Only she started venting almost immediately, and I hadn't gotten to the thanks yet.

"They're having fun, that's what this was all about right?" I asked.

"It is," she said as she sighed. "I'm just tired and cranky, and apparently antisocial."

"Maybe Edward can help you get to sleep," I suggested. She quickly caught my meaning.

"_If_ he was up here, and not down there with the rest of them, it wouldn't matter. I could never have sex with all these people in the house." We both laughed.

"Listen, Alice," I said. "It's really my fault you're tired. Thank you_ so_ much for everything that you did. It was so great. Even if I feel like an idiot for not figuring it out."

"You're welcome," she said. "We had fun planning everything, and seeing Emmett's face when you walked in made it all worthwhile. I'm sure you owe him some thanks, so I'll let you go."

"You are correct," I said. "See you tomorrow."

"Thanks, Tiny!" Em yelled as he stepped out of the bathroom.

"Tell him he's very welcome," Alice said as she hung up the phone.

"She's says you're very welcome," I told Em as he finished toweling off.

"Did you eat enough today?" he asked, smirking. "You look a little hungry." I couldn't reply; I was too busy ogling him. The thinner Em had been still very attractive, but he was finally picking up weight again, and the sight of the muscles rippling throughout his naked body as he walked toward the bed left me incapacitated.

"Cat got your tongue, smarty pants?" he teased as he peeled back the sheet and plopped into bed beside me. I could do nothing but grin because now it was the combined smell of him and the body wash that restricted my ability to speak. It's not like we never had sex; that part of our life had thankfully picked back up the last month or so. But tonight felt different; I _did_ want to thank him for everything he'd done to put that party together. Because the whole thing had been a gesture for me, to symbolize the love he had for me.

"I get it," he said. "You're practicing being quiet so nobody will hear. Good idea." He was propped up on his elbow smirking down at me.

"Would you look at this!" he said as he saw what I was wearing. "I knew you liked that outfit too! I don't want it ripped up this time though."

"So don't rip it then," I said, finally remembering how to form words.

"She_ can_ speak," he said as he inched his body closer to mine. I laughed, sat up, and slowly peeled off the little half shirt-sports bra thing that he'd given me for my birthday. Rose and Alice had bought a similar one for me when I'd been trying to recapture Em's attention some time ago. It, and the sports-themed panties, had worked far better than I'd expected.

"Now it won't get ripped," I said as I pressed my bare breasts against him. It was his turn to go speechless as he stared at my tits; they'd always been his weakness. I took advantage of his silence, turned completely toward him, and ran my fingers through his damp hair.

"I guess you're pretty proud of yourself for pulling this party off," I said. His eyes returned to mine as he nodded.

"Even though you kept a huge secret from me for months, thank you. It meant a lot to me that you got all our family together." As I spoke, I slowly moved my hand down his body and lightly dragged my nails over his lower abs and through his happy trail. He closed his eyes and hummed contentedly.

He opened his eyes when I kissed him and pulled his bottom lip into my mouth. With a final kiss, I suddenly pulled away and turned over.

"Thanks again," I said, trying not to laugh. "Good night."

"Hey!" he whined. "What kinda fucked up thank you is this?" I turned back over and laughed... hard.

"What kind of thank you did you have in mind?" I asked when I could breathe again.

"Fuck the thank you now," he said. "You need to be punished for teasing me like that, after all I did putting that party together." He was on top of me, grinning devilishly, his hardening cock pressing into my thigh.

"I think_ you_ need to be punished for keeping a secret from me for two months," I replied as I shifted a little and wrapped my legs around his waist. We both groaned when he moved so that he was pressing against me in _exactly_ the right spot. He grabbed my hands and held them over my head as he slowly grinded against me. Our heated kisses kept us from furthering our conversation. Just when the friction was really starting to feel incredible, he quickly let me go and rolled away.

"How ya like them apples?" he asked with a smirk, though he looked just as frustrated as I felt. "Doesn't feel so good does it?"

"I think you're punishing yourself more than me," I said with a grin. "_This_ is how you punish someone." I squeezed his cock tightly, and he groaned very loudly.

"Quiet!" I said as I kept squeezing and moving my hand up and down his length, gripping him as tight as I thought he could stand. "This is what happens when you keep secrets from me and make me the center of attention when you know I don't like that."

I gasped when he suddenly pulled my panties aside and pushed two fingers inside of me, thrusting them in and out rapidly.

"_That's_ what happens," he said, "when you tease me and try to punish me for doing a good thing for you." In no time at all we were rolling, grinding, and grunting, not at all remembering that we were going to try to be quiet.

"I thought you didn't want to rip anything," I said, panting, when he tore my panties off.

"You shoulda took 'em off," he said as he lifted my leg. "Your fault."

He stuck his tongue in my mouth and kissed me to keep me from screaming as he entered me. I couldn't stop touching him as he moved inside of me; I ran my hands over every part of his body I could reach. I loved that we could make each other crazy by talking and laughing, I loved that I was going to spend the rest of my life with this man, I loved the way that he only had eyes for me even though I eschewed fashion and makeup, and I loved that he accepted my geeky ass just as I was. Basically, I loved everything about Emmett McCarty, especially the way he sent me into a state of complete and utter bliss moments later.

"That's the kind of thank you I had in mind," Em said huskily after he came inside of me.

"You're welcome," I replied. His smug grin and twinkling eyes were the last things I saw before I fell asleep.

* * *

**A/N: Thanks to all the _Wednesday Dinner_ readers who have read and reviewed, and thanks to all new readers as well. I have so much fun writing this gang.**

**This week, I learned that reader and reviewer TheUnderStudy wrote a review of_ Wednesday Dinner_ on the Indie Fic Pimp blog. The review is both heartfelt and incredible, and to TheUnderStudy, thank you SO much! If you'd like to see the review (and the Indie Fic Pimp blog if you're not already familiar with it), here's the link: http:/indieficpimp(dot)blogspot(dot)com/**

**As always, thanks for reading and let me know what you think!**


	3. Chapter 3

**A/N: Stephenie Meyer owns **_**Twilight**_**. I just mixed up the couples and brought all their families to town.**

**Beta Thanks****: Many thanks to my wonderful beta, ExquisiteEdward. She rocks. That is all! **

* * *

**Sunday, September 18, 2011**

**BPOV**

"What in the world are you doing up?" I asked.

"Some of us old geezers are going fishing," Charlie said with a grin. "Mark's brother lives in Seattle now; he's got a boat."

"You want me to make something to send with you?"

"Sue took care of it," he said, holding up a bag of what I assumed were muffins. "Baked 'em last night. Guess you were asleep."

"Uh, yeah, guess so." I coughed as I answered my dad, hoping he had come home well after I _thanked_ Em last night. Charlie didn't appear to be making a joke or teasing me, so it looked like he was none the wiser.

We talked for a few minutes until he left, and I went back to making a breakfast casserole and muffins for our breakfast. Jasper told me yesterday that he'd spread the word that anyone who wanted to come to our church today could do so, and I felt it would be a good idea for me to go too. The early service would begin at 9:15, and I had plenty of time to get there.

Once I had the casserole in the oven, I realized I had enough ingredients left over to bake a small second one, so I did. Between Seth and Em, it would definitely get eaten.

Em never stirred once while I showered and dressed, and I stopped to stare at him several times. It actually hadn't been very late when we fell asleep last night, and it had been a long time since he'd slept so soundly for so long. Since Felix's death, he'd been a pretty fitful sleeper. The party being over, combined with our activities last night, had obviously reduced his stress levels and caused his current peaceful slumber.

I wanted to tell him I was leaving, but I couldn't bear to wake him. Still, it was hard to tear my eyes away from him. He was completely nude but for a portion of the sheet that barely covered his firm ass, and his giant foot was hanging from the side of the bed; I wanted to jump back in and defile him. Eventually, after reminding myself that I was on my way to church, I stopped ogling and closed the bedroom door behind me.

"Thanks, Bells," Seth said, already digging into the larger of the casserole dishes when I went back into the kitchen.

"Really good," Sue mumbled around a mouthful of fresh muffins. "Off to church?"

"Yeah. I'm going to early service, so I should be back soon. Not sure what's on Alice's agenda for today."

"You'll be fine," Sue said with a smile. "She allowed time for people to go to church, then the softball game is later this afternoon."

"Oh joy," I replied. They kept eating while I checked my phone. I hadn't heard from my sister and was curious as to how she spent her evening, though I had a pretty good idea.

**hope ur nite was as good as mine ;0) **I had to laugh at her message.

I only had one other message; it was a text from Jasper.

**call if goin to church**

The message was from just ten minutes ago, so I called him.

"I need a favor," he stated as soon as he answered the phone.

"Good morning to you too," I said with a chuckle.

"Sorry," he replied. "Lot goin' on."

"What's up?" I asked.

"Esme," he said. "Can you _please _go over there and see if she'll come? She's still upset from yesterday, and I think she's gonna sit in there all day and be depressed..."

"And you've got softball after church and can't be depressed with her," I said, finishing his sentence.

"I wouldn't put it quite like that," he said with a laugh. "But yeah."

"Is your mom going to church?" I asked. "And your aunts?"

"Yup," he replied.

"Then she should definitely go," I said.

"Exactly," he replied. "I knew you'd understand."

"I'll see what I can do, but you know how stubborn she can be."

"I _know_," he said. "Just see what you can do. You can be pretty persuasive, and if she won't come, that'll be more I gotta hear about." Poor Jasper. The women in his family were very intense, and were already giving him their opinions of Esme from the sound of it.

"I'll go bearing food; that should work."

"'ppreciate it," he said when he finished laughing. I wasn't kidding about taking food. I didn't like to go to Esme's empty handed. She didn't cook at all, and barely kept food in the house. If it wasn't for Jasper and the gang, I didn't know when she'd eat. Of course, she could get food anywhere, but we always had extra and I didn't mind. I thought about what Caius said yesterday; I guess we did sort of baby Esme. I packed up several muffins and the smaller dish of casserole to take with me.

"What are you doing this morning?" I asked Sue and Seth before I left.

"We're headed to Target," Sue said. "We're getting the last of the stuff for school."

"Why couldn't you just go to U Dub here?" I asked. My eyes felt watery, and I noticed that Sue's were a little glassy as well. Seth would be a freshman at the University of Oregon, at their main campus in Eugene. He'd be not quite a five-hour drive away. That wasn't horrible, but I'd have been happier with him here. Maybe in time, he'd want to be a little closer.

"Because if anybody so much as mentions me leaving home, you two and Lee start crying," Seth said. "I'm not a kid anymore; I need a break."

"We're sorry for loving you," I said as I headed out the door, both of their laughs behind me.

* * *

"Thank_ you_!" Caius said, almost yanking the bag with breakfast from me when Sara let me in to Esme's condo.

"Thanks, Bella," Sara said with a smile as she closed the door. "_Someone_ brought us coffee, but no food."

"_Someone _didn't have to bring shit," Caius replied, already pulling out plates and dishing out the casserole. Sara actually smiled at him; I guess if you dated Caius Cullen, you had to get used to his "humor." I saw the drink tray of Starbucks he must have brought sitting on the counter.

"You're just like Alice," I said to Sara. "Already put together, this early in the morning." She chuckled and gracefully sat at the counter next to Caius. I didn't know if Sara spent the night here with Esme or not, but her hair was perfect and she was wearing a stylish dress.

"I try," she said. Esme's mom was already beautiful, but now that she'd warmed up to us a _little_ more, she was even more attractive. Now, she smiled from time to time which hadn't been the case when we'd first met her.

"How is she?" I asked. Sara shook her head slightly.

"You'll see," she said. I nodded and slowly walked towards Esme's room.

"This is fucking amazing," Caius said, devouring his food. It was just a simple casserole with eggs, sausage, onions, cheese, and hash browns, and some banana nut muffins, but I didn't know how often he had home-cooked meals so maybe to him it was incredible.

"Don't expect me to cook like this," Sara replied. "It won't happen."

"I have a maid for cooking," Caius said. "I have you for other things."

"Lucky you," she retorted as they both laughed.

I cringed and picked up the pace to Esme's room so I didn't have to hear any more of that particular conversation. Sara and Caius were both very vibrant people, and I didn't begrudge them their _romantic _lives, but they were both a few years older than my parents, and I didn't want to think of them in _that _way. Not at all.

"I brought breakfast," I said to Esme as I entered her bedroom.

"Thanks," she mumbled, not moving a muscle from her position on the bed. Esme sat leaning against her many pillows, while she grasped another. Loose hair strayed from her messy ponytail, and her eyes were red and swollen.

"Is that Jasper's shirt?" She nodded.

"What's going on?" I asked. "I know yesterday was pretty much your worst-case scenario, but it wasn't your fault and you can't hide the whole time Jasper's family is here." I walked over and sat beside her on the bed.

"How can I face them?" she croaked. "After what was said. How?"

"You can start by coming to church, and showing them that you're your own woman. They didn't come here just to visit Jasper or come to the party. They came to meet you, Esme." She instantly started crying; I wondered if she'd ever stopped crying after yesterday.

Suddenly, I got a little angry. I wasn't going to sit here and beg and plead with Esme when all that had happened to her was that her snotty-ass family had shown their true colors.

"Look," I said with a little more edge in my voice. "I'm not taking no for an answer here. You need to show Jasper's family that you're tough, whether you feel that way or not." She sniffed a little but she still didn't move.

"Nobody's saying you have to start going to church all the time," I continued. "We're talking one morning of your life to show his family that you're making an effort. You won't even have to talk the whole time because we'll be in service for most of it." She sniffed again, and looked away.

"I love you like a sister, Esme, but right now, you're acting like a spoiled brat. If you don't go to church with his family this morning, then your aunt and your grandmother win. Get out of that bed right now, or I'm gonna start yanking pillows." She clutched her decorative pillow tighter, but she did look up at me.

"They hate me," she cried. "I know they do; I could feel it."

"They don't know you well enough to hate you," I said. "But they're only here for a few more days. If you don't take this chance to try to get to know them, then they _won't _get to know you." She put the pillow down beside her and wiped her eyes.

"You know I'm right," I said softly. "You knew this was never gonna be easy. It's hard on Jasper too. Give them a chance to know you. Come on, Esme." I walked to the other side of the bed and held out my hand. She stared at it and finally took it.

"Thanks, Bella," she whispered, pulling me into a hug.

"We don't have time for pleasantries right now," I said, smiling. "Take the fastest shower you can, and I'll pick something for you to wear. Trust me, we do _not_ want to make them late for church. They_ will_ hate you then." Esme's eyes widened, and she quickly dashed into the bathroom.

"You're a good friend," Sara said from the doorway. "I'm glad she has you." I didn't know how long she'd listened, nor did I care.

"I know she'll regret not spending time with them," I said. "You could come too."

"I've already been summoned to brunch with Helen and the others," she said. "I'm sure I'll hear about my disloyal behavior."

"I was glad you stood up for Esme," I said as I selected a dress and shoes from Esme's closet.

"My daughter comes first," she replied. "I was too hard on her growing up, and look at her now." She shook her head again as she pulled out some jewelry to match the dress I'd chosen for Esme. I didn't know what to say, so I kept quiet.

"I'm worried about her, especially after what happened before," Sara continued. I didn't think she realized that Esme never told us_ exactly_ what happened in her previous relationship, but we knew that serious abuse had been involved.

"But I can't lose her again," she said. "And she seems happy, really happy, with Jasper."

"Jasper's a good guy," I said. "He knows what he wants." That reminded me that I needed to let him know that we'd meet him at the church, so I texted him as Sara kept talking.

"Let's face it," she said. "He's been around the block. I can tell. But I also see the way that he looks at my daughter; he loves her. I have to trust that they'll be okay."

"They will," I said. "You're being supportive, and that's what she needs. I think she's got in her mind that they all hate her after yesterday. And that's why she needs to spend time with them. To show them she doesn't believe all that stuff her family said." I decided that Esme needed a different purse based on the dress I picked, and I'd seen the perfect one in the closet. _What the hell had Alice done to me?_

"She _should_ get to know them while they're here," Sara agreed. "Yesterday... Ann took it all too far. I can't really blame Helen, because Jasper's mother was goading her all through dinner." I stopped transferring stuff between Esme's purses to look up; this was startling new information.

"Helen can't have kids, and it's a touchy subject for her," Sara said. "Sharon kept asking her why she never had kids or adopted, and where Esme's father is. _That's_ touchy for all of us. But she kept harping about it. Then she got started on Jasper and how he's _so_ smart, and _so_ perfect, and _such_ a great son. You'd think she didn't have other children. It was all a bit much."

"Jasper_ is_ a little cocky," I replied with a grin. "Maybe that's where he gets it from." She smiled as well.

"I don't excuse what was said," Sara continued. "Ann has said similar things to me over the years, reminding me that I only have what I have because of them." My eyes widened a little; I couldn't imagine having to live a life being treated like a second-class citizen in your own family.

"I'm not a Platt by blood, and they only tolerate me because of Esme and because I'm so close to Helen," she said. "So part of me enjoyed seeing somebody stand up to Ann for once. She needs to see that she can't have her way about everything. Like I said, I know I'll hear about my actions when I see them today. Still, it was worth it."

Esme emerged from the bathroom and hurriedly began putting on her outfit as I pondered what her mom had said. There were always two sides... or more... to every story. Sara could have been making things up to make Helen look better, but I didn't think she was. The nasty, personal tone of that fight led me to believe that she was telling the truth about what had happened at that table; at least one part of the truth.

"Will we be late?" Esme asked after she'd put on the clothes I'd selected, and Sara quickly worked on her hair.

"We're good," I replied. The church was only ten minutes away. "You even have time to eat... but fast." Esme and Sara both smiled at me before they darted off to the kitchen.

Sara gave Esme a little pep talk about dealing with the Whitlocks as her daughter ate part of a muffin. I tried not to laugh as Caius looked at me, rolled his eyes, and rocked his arms as if holding a baby. Maybe we were all guilty of babying Esme a little, but we couldn't help it: Esme was the sweetest person I knew.

"What are you doing with yourself today?" I asked as I chuckled.

"Golf with George... and Don," he said, rolling his eyes again. I knew that he liked Esme's Uncle George, the bank CFO. So the eye roll was clearly for Rose's dad, Don.

"He's your family now," I said. "You've apparently made nice with Rose... and the rest of us; you have to work on the rest of her family now."

"It would be in his best interests to make nice with _me_," Caius said. There was the bastard Caius we all knew and feared. "And as for the rest of you, you've proven trustworthy to me and to Carlisle." Well, that was nice to know.

"What fun family time we're all having this weekend," I said. Caius laughed as Esme emerged from the kitchen ready to go.

"Thanks again," Sara said to me. "For breakfast, and everything else." I said goodbye to Sara and Caius. I was actually glad I'd come today; in a very short time, I'd learned quite a bit more about them both.

"Mornin'!" Jasper's aunt Lynn said brightly as Esme and I got out of my car. We made it to church with about five minutes to spare before service started. The Whitlocks seemed to have just arrived themselves. We greeted Lynn in reply, and Jasper quickly walked over and hugged Esme. She smiled at whatever he whispered in her ear.

"Hi, Bella!" Maria said. I bent to hug her when she ran to me.

"Hi," I replied. "There can't be any pretty dresses left in Texas. You brought them all." She giggled with delight, and I spoke to her grandmother Marisol, as well as Jasper's grandmother Mae. All of his family was here except for his father, uncles, and youngest brother, all of whom I suspected might be with Charlie fishing.

"I'm so glad you came, Esme," Sharon said. "I didn't think we'd see you here!" Esme hugged Jasper's mom, and we exchanged looks. My look plainly said, "I told you so!"

"I owe ya, darlin'," Jasper said when he hugged me too.

"That you do, sir," I replied as he flashed the grin that we'd all grown to love.

* * *

_I wonder who that is? _I'd just turned into the community and was about to park in front of our building when I noticed Em. He was with Heidi and her friend Fallon; all three were talking to a guy who was in the driver's seat of a really expensive-looking car. Too curious to stay away, I walked towards them. By the time I reached Em, the guy had driven off... with Fallon.

"Don't worry," Heidi said. "Fallon's _friendly_ like that. She'll be fine."

"If you say so," I replied with a grin. "She's your friend."

"Hey," Em said. He leaned down to kiss me.

"I couldn't wake you this morning," I said. "You were too peaceful."

"I did sleep well," he said with a wink.

"Who was that guy?" I asked, switching gears. I had to remind myself that Heidi was here or I would have gotten lost in Em all over again.

"He lives in your building," Heidi said. "Says he plays for the Sounders, whatever that is."

"Soccer," Em and I replied in unison. Heidi rolled her eyes.

"No wonder I didn't know him," she muttered. "Fake-ass football."

Em and I gasped, and Heidi's eyes got wide as well. I don't think she realized what she said; it just slipped out. Because that wasn't a phrase that sounded like Heidi at all; it did, however, sound like Felix.

"You sounded just like..." Em said.

"I know..." Heidi said. Then, both of their lips started quivering, and they laughed so hard they both started grabbing their stomachs.

"He fucking hated soccer," Em said, wiping his eyes when he finally settled down a little. I was happy that they were both getting to a point where the memories of Felix caused them to laugh instead of cry.

"He used to say that_ all _the time," Heidi said when she could breathe properly again. "Maybe going to the cemetery stirred up some memories. I don't know." They grinned at each other, and I kept my mouth shut. It was wonderful that they had good memories of Felix; I did not.

"Didn't your dad go?" I asked. I'd spoken with Em as soon as I left church. He told me that he'd taken his dad and Heidi to the cemetery, but I didn't see Steve.

"Yeah," Em said, as we started walking toward our building. "He's upstairs. We only came down to see who Fallon was leaving with. Where's Esme?"

"Most of the women in Jasper's family went shopping right after church," I said. "She went with them. They're meeting Liz and Chelsea. I don't know why Alice isn't going. That's right up her alley."

"Um, Tiny's up at our place, with the babies," Em said, looking awkward for some reason.

"What's going on?" I asked, not ready for another surprise. Yesterday's was enough to last me for life. Heidi responded for Em.

"Alice and all your moms are upstairs waiting for you," she said with a smirk. "They've got wedding magazines out all over the table." I groaned while they tried not to laugh at me.

"Could I see the guest suite?" I asked Heidi when we were in the elevator. "I've never seen one."

"Sure," she said. "It's only because of you two that I'm able to stay there."

"I know you're stalling," Em said with a grin. "We won't stay long." I pinched his ass for that remark; it was easy for him to laugh because they wouldn't expect him to get involved with the wedding plans. He pinched my ass right back. We stopped, so as not to get too handsy around Heidi, but thankfully she just laughed.

"I had no idea they were _this _nice," I said as I looked around the suite. It was nicer than the hotel I'd stayed in with Leah Friday night.

"It's great," Heidi said.

"I wish I'd thought to use them when you were here before," Em said. I knew he meant when she was here for the funeral.

"None of us were thinking clearly then," she replied. "Don't feel bad."

"I'm so glad you came," I said to Heidi. "I can't get over how great you look."

"You really do look good," Em said. "I like your hair like this. You don't need all that fake hair you used to have."

"Thanks," she said, grinning widely at both of us. "Things are good, and I'm feeling... better. I still miss him, but each day, I'm... managing... a little better."

"Your, uh, job, is going well?" Em asked. She laughed a little before she answered.

"Yes, it is," she said. "You'll never guess what I'm doing."

"What?" Em and I asked, in unison again.

"I actually have two jobs," she said. "But one of them is babysitting!"

"At a daycare?" I asked.

"No, at night, for some of our friends," she said. "Fallon dances, and we know a bunch of other girls who do too. Some of them have kids, and a couple of them started asking if they could bring their kids over and leave them with me at night."

"Don't you... _dance_... too?" Em asked.

"No," she replied. "That was the plan, but when I got back, Fallon's boss asked me to be a hostess at a new restaurant he opened; it's like an upscale Hooters." Em and I looked at each other, the relief evident on both our faces. Heidi was a grown woman, and stripping was a legitimate profession, but I think we'd both been worried about what might happen to her in the strip club, even if she knew the owner.

"And you like the job?" Em asked.

"So far, I do," she said. "The tips are great for one thing. I work afternoons and early evenings, and that's why I'm available at night to babysit." Again, Em and I looked at each other in understanding. I guess it would be hard for strippers to get a more traditional babysitter for the odd hours they worked.

"Fallon doesn't mind?" I asked. Heidi was living in Fallon's house after all.

"No," Heidi said with a warm smile. "She's the one who asked if I'd do it in the first place, and because they're our friends, she doesn't mind. She has a nice house, and there's plenty of space. So we got some little beds and stuff and set up the basement. It's all under the table, and I'm not saying I'll do it forever, but for now it really works for me and it's more money coming in."

"I bet they're upset you came out here," I said. "They won't have you to watch the kids, and I'm sure the weekends are busy for them."

"They are," she said. "But I had to come. I owe you both so much. And I have some money to give both of you." She grabbed a carry-on bag off of the floor and started to unzip a pouch. Em and I both shook our heads.

"You don't owe me anything," I said. "Just seeing you like this is all I need."

"And you better _not_ try to give me any money," Em said very seriously. "Fe would have been so much worse, but you made him better. We're cool; you don't owe me anything either." Heidi stared at us, wanting to protest, but she nodded eventually, looking on the verge of tears. I decided to change the subject.

"I don't know how serious you are about having a daycare, but you should talk to Jasper's mom while you're here," I said. "She runs one. Jasper said she's had it for years."

"I didn't know!" she said. "I'll talk to her about it before I leave."

We talked to Heidi a little longer, and I found that I liked this Heidi so much more than the version of herself she'd been with Felix.

"Emmett, I wanted to give you this," Heidi said, handing him a box from her suitcase. "It's a few of his things."

"Thanks," Em whispered as he carefully took it from her hands. "You got the apartment cleaned out okay? Did they give you any trouble?"

"The lease was almost up, so it's fine," she said. "We'd been planning to try to get a house somewhere, so we hadn't renewed it. Fallon and a couple of our friends helped me clean it all out but the stuff in that box was important to him. I know he'd want you to have it." Em nodded, just staring at the box.

"Are you coming back down with us?" I asked as I moved to the door.

"Oh, no, I'll probably just watch some TV until the softball game." She tried to sound nonchalant, but she looked a little sad. I knew she wanted no part of wedding planning, having lost her fiancé just a few months ago, but I didn't want her to stay up here by herself.

"Nope," Em said, pulling her hand. "You're coming with us. I want you to start getting to know my dad. You two didn't say much to each other yesterday, or at the cemetery. I'm tired of everybody being scared to talk and shit. You're family too, and it's time we put all the bullshit behind us."

"Don't mind him," I said to Heidi who laughed. "Now that he pulled that party off, he's all bossy and take charge."

"Yeah, I am," he replied with a smirk. "So let's get it movin'. Downstairs, now!"

"Is anyone else in one of the guest suites?" I asked Em when we were back on the elevator.

"Nope," he replied. "I reserved all the ones here, and the ones in Esme's building, but everybody made other plans. Your mom and Phil are staying with some friend of his, Marie's down at the Fairmont, and Jasper's family is all staying at one of those suite hotels, right near him. Jake's family is staying with him."

"They're all crammed in at Jake's?" I asked as we got off the elevator. Em nodded.

"How big is his place?" Heidi asked.

"It's two bedrooms, two baths," Em replied. "And there's enough room, but Jake likes his space. He's going nuts."

"I bet he stayed with Leah at the hotel last night," I replied. My sister wouldn't have sent me that happy text this morning if she'd been crammed in with Jake's dad and sisters and their significant others. Em wriggled his eyebrows at what I'd said, causing us all to laugh as we entered the condo.

* * *

Much to my chagrin, Heidi had been correct. Renée, Sue, Vera, and Jane were waiting for me when I walked in, as were Leah and Alice. Em hadn't told me that Jane would be here, but I guess when Heidi had said "all your moms," she'd been serious. Jane looked more uncomfortable than the other moms, but she was here.

"You look pretty natural like that," I said to Leah who was holding one of the triplets.

"Don't get used to it," my sister said. "I'm not having kids for a _long_ time. She is pretty cute though." The baby smiled, while one of her sisters screamed her head off.

"Has it been like that all week?" I asked Alice who was hurriedly heating a bottle.

"You have no idea," she said rolling her eyes. "Three babies at one time is _hard_." She tested the bottle and then gave it to Heidi who had actually managed to get the screaming baby to settle a little. Heidi took the baby and the bottle, and went out onto the balcony with Em and Steve. Thankfully, the screaming quickly subsided. Maybe a real daycare could be in Heidi's future.

"Good thing I have Bella and Seth," Sue said, holding the third baby who was also having a bottle. "I have no hope of a grandchild from that one." She pointed at Leah as everyone laughed.

"Alice, I have to thank you," Renée said. "I know my daughter didn't pick that dress on her own. She looks beautiful." I was still wearing my dress from church; they hadn't given me time to slip away to change since I'd walked in.

"I do my best," Alice said. "But she's a real challenge."

"I'm standing right here," I said. "Can we just get this over with?" They laughed at me, even Jane. Renée patted a chair, and with a sigh I sat in it.

"You look great," she said. "Your hair, your skin, everything. I don't know if it's this place or your friends, but it's working for you."

"I'm glad you quit that job," Sue said. "It was a great opportunity, but you've paid your dues and made a name for yourself. It's time to move on. It was becoming your whole life."

"It'll be good for you to be at home a little more," Jane said. I knew what she really meant. Home a little more... for her son.

"Your energy feels much better now," Renée added. It took everything I had not to roll my eyes at her. My whole life I'd endured my mother's unconventional outlook on life: energy, chakras, and all. Alice and Leah, who were sitting side by side, were both covering their mouths with their hands trying to keep from laughing at this apparent version of "Bella Swan: This is How We See Your Life." And my moms were still talking.

"I'm glad Emmett did this," Sue said. "The party, and getting us all together. You deserved it. I know losing his brother was hard, but you had a rough time too. We've all been very worried about you." She gave a pointed look at Jane, who wisely said nothing.

"I agree," Renée said. "It shows he's not taking you for granted, and that's good." I was not liking the direction this conversation was taking.

"Where's Phil?" I asked in a desperate attempt to change the subject. I _hated _being the center of attention, and they all knew that.

"He's with Eds," Alice said. "Seth too. They're all practicing for the softball game." Em probably would have been with them too if he wasn't so determined to get his dad and Heidi talking. I looked outside and all three of them were laughing, so the talks seemed to be going well.

"We know we won't get the whole wedding planned this weekend," Sue said, bringing the conversation back around. "But we can make a good head start."

"And when else are we all going to be together like this?" Renée asked. "Probably not until the wedding."

"Thanks," I said. "I don't mean to sound ungrateful. You all know me though; tell me what to do and when to show up. I don't get into all the party planning. It's not me."

"_We know_," several of the women said which caused chuckles around the table.

"The first thing we have to do is settle on the date," Leah said, traitor that she was. "Emmett wants to get married on New Year's day, but is that what _you_ want? It's your day too. Don't forget that."

"It's fine," I replied. "I think I'd like to do it soon, and that seems good. I like that our anniversary will be on a holiday. It's special." Several of them, including Alice, started scribbling down notes, which I found hilarious.

"New Year's day is on a Sunday this time, so that works out perfectly," Alice said.

"It's a shame though," I said, looking at Vera. "Em had mentioned going to see you and Steve in Vegas for New Year's. Guess we'll have to do that another time."

"It's no problem at all," she said as she grinned. "We'll be back here by then anyway."

"You're moving here for good?" Jane asked with an alarmed expression. You could have heard a pin drop around the table.

"Yes," Vera said firmly. "I'm from Seattle, and my whole family's here. They love Steve as much as I do, and they've been trying to get me to come home for ages. We'll be back by Thanksgiving."

"Good to know," Jane said tightly. She crossed her arms, closed her eyes, took a deep breath and let it out slowly. Before she could say anything else, Alice quickly spoke.

"I had an idea for the reception," she said. "When Emmett told us he was going to propose, I started thinking of locations. Some places get booked years in advance, and we're talking about having a whole wedding in just a few months."

"Wait 'til you hear!" Renée said excitedly, as one of the babies cooed too.

"It was actually Eds who came up with it," Alice said. "The WTA has a huge meeting space on the top floor. It's almost like a ballroom when you take out all the furniture. Eds knows a lot of the people there, and they love him even though he left." I raised my eyebrow and she laughed.

"Maybe not that asshole Eleazar," she said, as the others - except for Jane - laughed. "But everyone else. Anyway, I asked him to check if that room's available. It's booked for New Year's eve and obviously that'll spill over into the early morning, but it's open for the evening on New Year's day."

"Wow," I said. "I've been there a couple times for events with Aro. It's beautiful up there; there's windows all around. I would love that! Please book it, if it's okay with Em." There were murmurs of relief around the table. I felt bad that they'd been so afraid of my reaction. I wasn't _that _difficult.

I thought the space at the theatre where Edward used to work would be perfect for another reason too. It was large, but it wasn't massive; the limited size of the space would keep Esme and Alice from doing anything too grandiose. At least that's what I hoped.

"Em already said we can do whatever we get you to agree to," Leah said. I childishly mimicked what she said and again everyone laughed. Even Jane cracked a smile. I couldn't help it. My sister brought out another side of me.

"You'll have the ceremony in a church, won't you?" Jane asked.

"I'd like to," I replied. "I'll talk to Pastor Max. It's a Sunday, so it might have to be late in the day, after the services."

"We figured as much," Alice said. "If it was at four or five, that would work better anyway because then the reception would be at night and the view would be incredible."

"If your church is booked, let me know," Jane said. "If you don't want to get married in Forks, Waylon's church here is wonderful." I nodded at her and smiled. She nodded and looked away. I had to give her credit for even being here. We'd had our differences, but I was giving Steve the benefit of the doubt, so I would give it to her too. He was trying, and so was she.

"And you know there's a bunch of hotels, just a few blocks from the WTA," Vera said. "So if anybody needed a place to stay, they could be close by."

"I'm actually excited," I said to everyone's amazement, including my own. "I hope we can get that room, Alice."

"I_ kind _of already spoke to them and booked it," she said with a grin. I just shook my head; I should have known.

"It was best to reserve it while it was open," she explained. "We could always cancel it, but great spots like that aren't available all the time." She was right. The only reason that space was open at all was because it was pretty much only used for WTA events, or events of its major patrons. Edward must be _really_ well liked there. It wasn't normally open to the public.

"Please thank Edward for batting his eyes at the right people then," I said. Again, everyone cracked up. We all knew how Edward was so persuasive. Yes, he was a talented musician who also happened to be personable and likeable, but the man was also freaking gorgeous. Alice was laughing harder than anyone.

"Hey, where's, Rose?" I asked suddenly. It just occurred to me that she wasn't here.

"She took her brother and sister-in-law to the airport," Alice said. "Vicky went with her. She said she'll see us at the game."

"Nettie and AJ are gone?" I asked. I'd gotten used to all the kids being around. Alice nodded.

"AJ was almost as big as these girls," Sue said. "He's only three months old!"

"They don't make little babies in that family," Vera said with a chuckle. "I grew up with Tanya and Don. I'm tall, and was usually the biggest kid. _Except_ for them and their sisters and brothers."

"I bet Rose's baby will be big too," Sue said. "Carlisle's taller than she is."

"When is she due?" Renée asked.

"Um, I didn't know she was pregnant?" I said, more like a question than a response. They were casually discussing this like it was fact when I knew nothing of the sort.

"She's _definitely_ pregnant," Jane said. "She kept running off to the bathroom for one thing."

"She walks pregnant," Sue added. Jane, Vera, and Renée nodded their heads.

"She kept touching her stomach too," Vera said. "And if she had to be up front yesterday, she always made sure she stood behind the table with all the bags. She was definitely hiding." I had no idea there were so many tells, and I was dying to know if they were right.

"Plus, her aura was sparkling," Renée added. "That's a sure sign." I noticed that she looked at Leah quickly, but my sister was busy listening and laughing as Sue and the other women talked over themselves discussing when they'd been pregnant and when people had been able to tell.

I shook my head and chuckled. I knew my sister, and unfortunately, she kept me well apprised of her sex life. I knew she hadn't been with anyone but Jake in the last few years, even if she did give him a hard time. It was true that they'd been _together_ since she'd come back here a few weeks ago. But it was highly unlikely that Leah was pregnant because before that, they hadn't had sex since Valentine's day. I remember that instance very well becauseshe said she told him about the job in DC right after they had sex, and then she was pissed off at him when he didn't want her to go.

There was no way Renée and her crazy spiritual preggo radar could tell if my on-birth-control sister was pregnant this quickly. I shook my head again at my good ole' nutjob mother. My thoughts returned to Rose and her possible baby. I caught Alice's eye; she was smirking back at me.

"Did you know?" I asked her. "Is it true? Is this another secret nobody told me?" Alice laughed.

"They haven't said anything if they are," she said. "But Eds and I suspected it. We really noticed it last week at Wednesday dinner. Every time she looked at the babies, she'd almost burst into tears. And Carlisle kept looking at her and smiling. It was pretty obvious. Then, she kept eating stuff we'd never seen her eat before. You know how particular she is about her food."

"That's true," I said, thinking back to all the dinners we'd shared. "But it doesn't help that you and Edward are practically psychic either. I had no idea. She doesn't have a bump or anything."

Alice and I smiled together. It looked like the gang was about to have its first junior member.

"Let's get back to the wedding," Alice said loudly over all the chatter. "Colors. What are we thinking?"

* * *

"You're my new favorite person," Jasper said, coming up to me as I set up a portable playpen in the grass next to the bleachers. "Thanks again."

"They haven't told her they hate her guts?" I asked, laughing.

"Naw," he said, laughing along with me. "It's goin' good. They're shoppin' 'til they drop." For many women, and I didn't count myself among them, shopping was an enjoyable experience. I was happy for Esme that she'd gone with the Whitlock ladies. It sounded like they were having a great time.

"Good," I replied. He ran off onto the field as I turned to find Em. While Em was doing so much better since his trip to urgent care last week, I still worried. The vitamins alone clearly had a positive effect on him, and his appetite was coming back too. I barely had to nag him to eat anymore. Still, I worried how he'd fare running around for hours in the heat, trying to impress all the other guys. But he knew his body, and I would have to trust that if he felt weak or faint, he'd take himself out of the game. _Yeah, right._

"I'm not trying to be a downer," I said. "But please take it easy out there. This is just for fun."

"I'll be fine," he said then he lowered his voice. "You weren't so worried about me taking it easy last night."

"That was different," I said swiftly. "There were punishments to be given." He threw his head back and laughed before he kissed me and ran onto the field.

"All set, Alice," I said when I walked back to her Denali. I was quite proud of myself after setting up the playpen. Vera, Sue, and Renée each carried a triplet; the babies were placed into the playpen with several toys. We watched them for a few seconds. Two of them started whining, but when they saw their sister happily playing with the toys, they did too. For now, they were okay. Alice was right; these babies were a _lot _of work.

Alice got Tempo and Fresco out of the car and let them run around before she tied the ends of their long leashes to the edge of the bleachers so that they could move around a little but not get too far away or run onto the field. She needn't have worried. They soon plopped down on the grass next to the playpen. She poured some water into a bowl and set it in front of them. The puppies looked perfectly content as they lapped at the water and then chewed on a few toys of their own as they took in the scene around them. Edward probably had them outside running around the whole time the guys had been practicing earlier today; soon, the puppies were very nearly falling asleep.

"Where's my girl Maria?" Rose asked Carmen. "I didn't think anything could tear her away from Jasper."

"She _does _love her Uncle Jazzy," Carmen said, laughing. "But she loves clothes more. She's with the others, shoppin'."

"Girl after my own heart," Rose said with a grin. Carmen was the only woman from Jasper's family at the game. It seemed that she and Heidi had agreed to meet up here; they'd definitely struck up a friendship and they were both sitting on the first row of bleachers eating, talking, and laughing.

"Did you guys do this too?" I asked Alice. We were standing in line at a hot dog cart that was placed too close to us to be purely coincidental.

"Yup," she said. "You can thank Tony. He thought of it the other day, and Liz arranged it. They said it was their contribution to the weekend. They're having a great time."

"Thank you, Tony!" Rose and I yelled to Edward's dad. He took off his baseball cap and bowed as everyone laughed. Then he went back to what he'd been doing: establishing the rules for the forthcoming game.

"I'll have a jalapeño cheddar dog," Rose said when it was her turn. She was in front of Alice, who turned and raised an eyebrow at me.

"I thought you didn't like spicy food, Rose?" I asked.

"Vicky just got one, and it smelled _amazing_," she said, practically drooling. She took her spicy dog, a bag of chips, and a bottled water and sat next to her sister on the bleachers.

"That makes me wanna hurl," Leah said from behind me.

"Yeah, mustard and relish is spicy enough for me," I said. My sister had never had a problem with spicy food in the past though, so this was interesting. No, I needed to kick Renée's crazy thoughts out of my head.

"I'm not going to say anything about the baby," Alice said, stopping me on our way to the bleachers. "Maybe they're not having it, or maybe they're waiting until she's past the first trimester. And it's really not our business until they say something."

"Good point," I said. "I'll keep my big mouth shut." We waited for Leah, and settled into the bleachers to watch the game. I was honestly having a great time this weekend with all my family and friends.

"You realize that it's all women in the stands, and all guys on the field," I said to no one in particular. "That's kind of sexist."

"Did you wanna play?" Rose asked with a smirk.

"Absolutely not," I said.

"We didn't either," Alice said. "So take your feminist hat off and relax." I took her advice and did just that.

"I hope y'all realize that all the family on Jas's team play in a league back home," Carmen said after a time. "That's really not a fair fight."

"My husband used to play baseball professionally," my mom said. "And the rest of his team is very athletic. It's fine." Sue turned to me and Leah and grinned; we tried not to laugh back. Phil had played minor league ball for half a season before he got hurt. I wasn't saying he was bad, but I wouldn't necessarily brag on him either.

"How'd they come up with the teams anyway?" I asked, looking at Vera. "We just met you guys last week." Steve was playing, as were Vera's son Todd, and her nephew Bryan; they were on Emmett's team. I supposed he could have asked them in a week's time, but it seemed strange.

"They had to adjust the teams," Alice replied. "They were gonna do seven on seven at first, and play with no shortstop and just two people in the outfield."

Heidi looked confused, so I explained. I wasn't a sports junkie by any stretch of the imagination, but I'd lived with baseball nuts Charlie and Em long enough to pick up on the positions, which were the same for softball.

"Usually, you have at least nine players on a team," I said. "One for each position. A pitcher and a catcher, first, second, and third basemen, a shortstop between second and third base, and people in left, right, and center field. If you're not playing for real, you could get away with seven, like Alice said."

"Thanks," Heidi said, chuckling. "Football's my thing." A few other people thanked me for the explanation as well.

"So at first," Alice continued, "Jasper's uncles weren't even coming to the party. But they were able to come at the last minute."

"More like they were _ordered_ to come," Carmen said as we all laughed.

"Friday, when Jasper realized they were coming, he signed them up to play," Alice said. "And then, some guy Jake and Emmett know couldn't play after all, so Emmett asked Steve and the others." Now that I had my explanation, I went back to watching the game and examining the teams.

Vicky's friend, Robby, and Edward's dad, Tony, were not playing; the guys had asked them to serve as umpires. Em's team included Em, Jake, Seth, Charlie, and Phil, as well as Rose's little brother Henry, Steve, and Vera's son and nephew.

"Are you okay with Charlie playing?" I asked Sue.

"Your dad's in great shape," she replied with a smirk as Leah and I pretended to gag.

Jasper's team included Jasper, his two brothers, his dad and two uncles, as well as Edward, Carlisle, and Peter, the boyfriend of Alice's aunt.

I'd only talked with Peter briefly yesterday up in the loft with all the dads and uncles, but I got a good feeling about him. He was a scientist just like Alice's aunt, but if Alice hadn't told me that, I'd have never guessed that was his profession. He was a burly guy, like Edward's dad, and he seemed to have a great sense of humor. He was the opposite of Alice's tightly wound aunt, and I thought he was good for her.

"You should be nice to Peter," I said to Alice.

"He better be nice to Aunt Chelsea, and to _me_," she replied. "She might trust him, but I'm still feeling him out." I was instantly reminded of my conversation with Caius this morning. Alice and Caius were two people I never wanted to cross. She stood to check on one of the triplets who'd begun to cry.

"She's a tough cookie," Sue said with a smile.

"Tell me about it," I replied. "Where's Billy, and Rachel and Rebecca?" Billy wouldn't have missed this for the world, unless he had a bigger reason.

"Rachel's boyfriend has tons of family here," Sue replied. "They're having a big dinner today. Jake and Seth are going over after the game. They asked us to come, but you know Charlie."

"I bet he was thrilled to have an excuse not to go," I said with a chuckle. He'd say he was too exhausted from his participation in the softball game.

"You know it," Sue replied.

"That man hasn't changed a bit," Renée said, shaking her head. No, my dad hadn't ever changed and I loved him for it. I went back to watching the game. I was no talent scout, but from what I could tell, the men in Jasper's family were_ really_ good. Even his dad and uncles who were older were way better than most of the people on Em's team.

"Where are Lauren, and the rest of your family?" I asked Vera. I almost hated to bother her because she was more into the game than any of the rest of us who were all talking and laughing.

"At Greenie's," she replied with a smug grin. "Sucks to be them." We both laughed.

"Will you work there when you move back?" I asked. I was very familiar with Greenie's, her family's restaurant.

"Not if I can help it," she said, laughing. We were interrupted by Vicky and Rose, who were making kissing noises at their little sister Irina.

"Stop!" she said, blushing furiously.

"She was trying to sneak and take pictures of Seth," Leah said, laughing. "They totally called her out."

"They'd be so cute together," I said. Leah nodded and smiled. Someone else wasn't in agreement.

"That's just what he needs," Sue muttered. "A celebrity who lives far away with a loudmouth obnoxious mother." I was glad Tanya, the loudmouth in question, wasn't here because if she'd heard that, there would have been an incident for sure. Leah and I grimaced at each other and quickly shut up, and went back to watching the game.

"This thing got real ugly, real fast," Vera said after a while, shaking her head.

"I tried to tell y'all," Carmen said as she laughed.

Basically, the guys were ending the game a little early because Jasper's team had soundly kicked the collective ass of Em's team. Carlisle, Edward, and Peter had made little contribution to the win. It was all Jasper and his family. The score was 15 to 2 when they decided to end the slaughter.

"It's okay," I said to Em when he plopped down dejectedly on the bench in front of me. I draped my arms around his shoulders and whispered into his ear. "I promise I'll help you feel better tonight."

"Promise?" he asked with a grin.

"Promise." His demeanor picked up considerably then, and he soon joined the other members of his ass-kicked team as they talked, laughed, and ate. This was definitely the best time I'd ever had at a sporting event.

* * *

"If everybody had sat their asses where we told them to, it would have never happened in the first place."

Em had just given a dramatic and hysterical re-enactment of yesterday's fight between Esme and Jasper's families, and Alice's comment had the gang and I doubled over we were laughing so hard.

"There's a reason people insist on having seating arrangements," Esme said when she stopped laughing.

After coming home from the softball game and changing, we'd all managed to get away from our families and sneak over to Esme's. She was the only one who didn't have family staying with her. Her mother had stayed with her last night when she'd been so upset, but had since returned to Caius's.

"It's good you can laugh about it now," Rose said as she wiped her eyes. Esme nodded in agreement.

"Some psychologist you are," I said to Jasper, as everyone cracked up laughing again. "You have advice for everybody else, but can't do shit to control your own family."

"I never, _ever_ said I had any kinda control over my Mama," Jasper said, still laughing.

"She's not to be fucked with," Em said. "That's for damn sure."

"Your grandmother's the one," Edward said, chuckling and shaking his head. "She's ten times worse than your mom."

"Soon as I heard she was comin', I knew there was gonna be trouble," Jasper said. "If there's a fight goin' on, Nan's gonna get in it."

"Our hometown is _much_ smaller than College Station," Esme said. "So if you're a hick, what does that make me?"

"Exactly," Jasper said. "Your grandma was completely outta line."

"I feel like I should have done something," Em said. "But it was like I couldn't stop watching."

"There wasn't anything anyone could have done," Alice said. "I think that would have happened at some point no matter who was around. It just sucks because Esme doesn't deserve that crap." Esme gave Alice a warm smile. I too was happy that Esme was no longer the dejected mess I'd seen this morning.

"Is your family all still here, Esme?" Edward asked.

"Yes," she said. "I think they're planning to leave on Wednesday. I don't know if Grandmother and Aunt Helen will participate in the rest of the activities. We'll have to see."

"Who's left at your house?" I asked, looking at Rose and Carlisle.

"Tanya, Reenie, Henry, and my Dad," Rose said. "Tanya wants to leave, but Dad and Reenie wanna stay. We're gonna go down with Henry when he goes back to school. They've never been."

"Seth goes this week too!" I said. "I'm going." Rose and I talked excitedly about our little brothers, both of whom were going to college this week. The only difference was that Seth would be a freshman at Oregon, and Henry was going back to Portland State. I thought she told me he'd be a sophomore.

"Who's left at your place?" Jasper asked Alice and Edward.

"My parents and the babies, until Friday," Edward said.

"And Aunt Chelsea and Peter are staying a few more days too," Alice said.

"I never knew my parents were this social," Edward said with a smirk. "I blame your folks, Jasper."

"I can't help it everybody loves the Whitlocks," Jasper said.

"Not everybody," Esme said which set us all off laughing again.

"Thank you for not freaking out," Edward said to me when we'd settled down. "We were worried, and Emmett really wanted this whole thing to work out."

"I wanted to," I said as I smiled at Em. "I hate being the center of attention, but it wasn't just about me, so it was easy to let go. Minus the fights, it was a lot of fun."

"You're welcome," Alice said. "It was crazy but it _was _fun."

"Alice, what books did you use as the centerpieces on the other tables?" I asked. "People loved them."

"Inspirational books, cookbooks, and some Seattle travel guides," she replied.

"Where did you get those bookends?" I asked. "I didn't see any sets that were alike."

"Every set was different," Esme said. "Some we got online, some we got at stores."

"I should have gotten in on the raffle," I said. "I can always use more bookends. I loved the ones that..."

"Didn't you get enough for your birthday?" Alice asked with mock indignation. Of course, the rest of us started laughing all over again. "You got an engagement ring, a surprise party, and all your family came to see you. Can't you just be satisfied?"

"I'm sorry," I said, still chuckling. "I appreciate everything I have. Thank you."

"Before I forget, I talked to Mrs. Walsh," Alice said. "I suggested Tuesday morning, and she said that's fine."

"Thanks!" I said. "I'll tell Gran."

"She says you can come too Carlisle," Alice said. "I've mentioned you, and she knows of you from one of her friends. But don't ask if you can buy anything. She knows what you do, and if she wants to sell something, she's not shy. She'll ask." Carlisle nodded in agreement.

"Are we ready?" Jasper asked as he held up the remote. We were supposed to finally watch the debut of Esme's show which we'd all recorded.

I snuggled up against Em in Esme's loveseat as the other couple's did the same in their seats too. Alice smirked at me when we both noticed Carlisle's hand clearly sprawled across Rose's stomach.

"What?" Em whispered when he noticed my grin.

"Nothing," I replied. "Just happy." We kissed very quickly as Jasper started the show. It might not be Wednesday, or our weekly dinner, but we were with our friends, and like always, that was a great place to be.

* * *

**A/N: Next chapter will start Emmett's POV; hope to have it up soon.**

**By the way, Felix's thoughts on soccer are his own ;0p I love the NFL, but I definitely appreciate the **_**other**_** football, which has given us wonders like David Beckham and Didier Drogba.**

**Also, Jasper demanded the return of his original voice, so I caved, haha!**

**As always, thanks for reading and let me know what you think!**


	4. Chapter 4

**A/N: Stephenie Meyer owns **_**Twilight**_**. I just mixed up the couples and brought all their families to town.**

**Beta Thanks****: Many thanks to my awesome beta, ExquisiteEdward. I appreciate all that you do, Madame H ;0p **

* * *

**Monday, September 19, 2011**

**EmPOV**

"A seatin' chart? Really? How official." Jasper stood beside me, smirking at my carefully prepared chart.

"Just get on the bus, Dr. Phil," I replied.

We were in the parking lot of the hotel where Jasper's family was staying, loading them up for today's tour of Seattle. When we were planning the party, and Alice and Esme suggested a tour for the families, Jake and I got excited. What better time to test out some of our plans for a business than when a large group of people who loved us would be in town?

But after Saturday's argument between the Platts and the Whitlocks, I saw exactly what Alice and Esme meant about needing seating arrangements. With our tight schedule, we literally didn't have time for any fights to break out today. So last night, I made a seating chart for today's tour. Shit took me _forever._

Jasper attempted to get on the bus, but stopped when his mom grabbed the back of his shirt.

"Your clothes are hangin' offa you," Sharon said. "Are you eatin' at _all_?"

"Yes, I am!" he said with a big sigh. I could tell he was tired of his mom fussing over him. She'd been doing it all weekend.

"Watch that tone, Jasper Whitlock," she replied with a stern look. I snorted right along with his dad and his brothers.

Including Jake and myself, there were 71 people going on the tour, and we'd broken them into two groups that we would lead. We rented two 36-passenger minibuses, and I asked the Whitlocks to be ready a little early so we could pick them up and head back to _Forest Crossing _where we'd finish loading.

"It's lookin' like rain; do we need umbrellas?" Jasper's aunt Joanne asked. Her husband Roy rolled his eyes behind her. She'd asked about rain every day.

"It's early, and just a little cloudy," I said. "They're not calling for rain at all. By this afternoon, the sun should be out. Don't worry your pretty head about it." She blushed and smiled. After I checked my chart and told her where to sit, she followed Sharon onto the bus.

We were using this big group of family and friends as a test of sorts, so even though parts of the planning had been a pain, I was thankful to have the families helping us out with this, even if they didn't know they were helping yet.

Jake and I both understood the importance of today's trip; we'd find out at the end of the day whether we could really pull off something like this for real. I made a good living at Hike Washington, we both did, but we knew that we could probably make much more working for ourselves.

"Emmett, you never told us how much all this is gonna cost," Lynn said. "Y'all can't pay for everything all weekend. That's not right. We have money; we're not the poor relations."

"We'll talk about it on the bus," I said patiently, giving her a big smile.

"If you think you can flash those dimples and get your way, you're right," Nan said. I laughed along with Lynn and her husband Luke as they stepped onto the bus.

I'd tried to put the older folks, as well as Jasper's pregnant sister-in-law, near the front of the buses so it would be easier for them to get on and off. Little stuff like that had to be factored into the seating chart too, and that's why the shit had taken so long.

"Hey, girlfriend," I said to Maria. "Who are those goobers?" Sweet little Maria narrowed her eyes at me as I pointed to the boys pictured on her shirt.

"They're _not_ goobers," she replied. "They're Big Time Rush. Take that back, or we can't be friends!"

"I'm sorry, I'm sorry," I said as I laughed. "I didn't know. I take it back. We cool?"

"Yeah, but don't say that again," she said with a big smile.

"She'll fight you over BTR," Carmen said. Finally, all the Whitlocks were seated except for Jasper and his brothers Liam and Riley. That was perfect because I needed to talk to them.

"Hey, guys," I whispered. "Listen, we'll be out for a while today. We brought wheelchairs for some of the older folks. Do you think..." Riley burst out laughing, and Jasper shook his head. Liam leaned against the bus he was laughing so hard.

"Don't even ask her," Jasper said. "Do _not _do it. Nan's real active back home. She'll be fine."

Jake and I planned the tour to last roughly seven hours. We'd be riding some of that time, but there would be a good amount of walking involved. I knew that Esme's grandparents were very fit as they'd gone on a walking tour when they were here before. However, I wasn't sure about their three friends who were coming too, or about Nan.

"If you like your balls where they are," Riley said, "leave her be."

"Ma took her to the doctor before we came here," Liam said once he stopped laughing. "She's good. Even if she wasn't, she'd rather die than let anybody see her gettin' pushed around in a wheelchair."

"Okay," I said. I was skeptical but I'd take their word for it. The wheelchairs were folded and stowed in the luggage compartment anyway.

"All right, Ken," I said to our driver. "We're ready." The fifteen assorted members of the Whitlock group whooped and yelled when we started moving. This was gonna be some first tour.

* * *

We turned into _Forest Crossing_ and parked in front of the clubhouse behind the other bus. When Ken opened the door, Jake quickly stepped inside.

"Can I talk for a minute?" he asked me.

"Sure," I said. I wondered what was going on, until I looked right outside the bus. Esme and her grandfather, mother, aunt, and uncle were standing nearby.

"Good morning, Whitlocks," Jake said in a sing-song voice that had them all laughing. They happily greeted him back.

"I heard about what happened with you guys and the Platts on Saturday." They all groaned. Jake was at his bike race when it all happened, and he'd cracked up when I told him about the fight.

"Some of them are outside, and they'd like to talk to you before we leave," Jake said. "Would that be okay?"

"Let 'em on," Nan replied. "They _should _have somethin' to say!" It was just after seven in the morning and this shit was getting started again. Jake bit his lip to keep from laughing as he stepped off the bus.

"Oh shit, they sent a delegation," one of Jasper's uncles said which caused them all to laugh and snicker as the Platts piled onto the bus.

"Good morning," Helen said, looking the definition of uncomfortable. Several of the Whitlocks mumbled a hello, but mostly they stared at her. Sara, George, Esme, and the senator smiled behind her. I noticed Esme's grandmother was _not _with them.

"Saturday..." Helen said before she paused. "Saturday, when we first met, went about as bad as it possibly could. I didn't expect us all to be great friends right away, but I never thought it would be so... contentious.

"I can't take back what was said. But for my part, I want to apologize. To all of you." She was standing very stiffly, and she honestly didn't look that sorry but she did owe them an apology, but not as much as her mother did.

"Sharon, you and I have strong, _very strong_, personalities," Helen added, "and I think we clashed right away. Unfortunately, that set the tone for everything else that happened."

"I think you're right about that," Jasper's dad said. Terry hadn't been around for the argument outside, but he'd been at the dinner table with them for hours at the party.

"I feel like Esme is my daughter," Helen said. "And I love her, no matter what. She's the one who got hurt by what happened, and I never wanted that." Esme smiled at her aunt and squeezed her hand. Helen's whole demeanor changed as she smiled back. _That _was the Helen that I knew from her visit before, the smiling, funny woman, not that nasty one from Saturday.

"I can't stand here and say everything's fine now because I know it's not," Helen said. "We're still getting to know each other, and that takes time. But we won't stand in the way of the wedding, and we want to help too."

"What about your mom? Does she like us now?" Maria asked. I saw a couple of the Whitlocks smirk, while the Platts squirmed. Kids. Gotta love 'em.

"Mother...," Helen said, as she fiddled with her shirt. "Mother's older, and set in her ways. She loves Esme. So..." She shrugged a little and gave Maria a tight smile. I was beginning to think the Whitlocks weren't going to say anything until Sharon spoke.

"It takes a big person to apologize," she finally said. "I'm sorry too. Maybe I went too far with all my questions about your family. But I was just tryin' to get to know y'all. We want Jasper happy, and we don't sit by and let anybody put us down."

"_Clearly_," George said with a smirk that caused everyone to laugh.

"We don't want to hold up the works," the senator said quickly. "But we had to clear the air. Things started off shaky, but look at it this way, they can only get better." A few of the Whitlocks chuckled.

"Esme says you're here until Wednesday, like us," George said. "We have a few more days to get to know each other still, so let's make the most of them." Several of Jasper's relatives agreed to do that before the Platts quickly got off the bus. Esme turned to leave too, but I stopped her.

"You're on this bus," I told her. "Right next to Nan."

"Oh good," she said. I put Esme next to her on purpose because it was clear that Nan was who she needed to get in good with in Jasper's family.

"Did I miss the part where she apologized for callin' us no-class hicks?" Riley yelled out from the back as everyone laughed.

"Maria, you had 'em squirmin', girl," Joanne said. Maria giggled from her seat next to Jasper as the rest of her family continued laughing.

"I like how they all say 'Mother'," Nan said. "From now on, I want y'all to call me 'Mother'."

"I'll call you a Mother all right," Jasper's dad Terry said which caused howls around the bus. I was starting to think this bunch had a little more than coffee and juice with their breakfast.

"You guys are bad," I said, laughing, as I shook my head, stood up, and walked to the steps.

"We want Liz and Tony on this bus, Emmett!" Sharon yelled.

"Already done," I replied. Jasper's mom was a _little _bossy.

"I'm sorry about Grandmother," I heard Esme say quietly to Nan.

"Don't you worry 'bout her," Nan said sweetly. "I'll talk to her myself. One old lady to another." I could only imagine what_ that _conversation would be like. Those two had almost come to blows on Saturday.

Jake already had his bus ready to go, so I worked as fast as I could to get everyone onboard mine. I put Bell and Seth, the gang, Jasper's family, my dad and Vera, Liz and Tony, Chelsea and Peter, Heidi and Fallon, and Rose's family all on my bus. I was probably going to hell for it, but I made sure my mom _wasn't_ on my bus because I didn't want to hear her complaining or have her nagging me all day.

"Who's your friend, Rose?" I asked as her little sister Irina walked up wearing a short dark wig and a pair of reading glasses. I doubted anyone would recognize her, especially since we were in such a big group. Irina and Rose laughed while Tanya frowned.

"Let's hope no one recognizes her," she said. "There could be a_ huge _scene." Tanya needed to understand that Irina might be famous, but she wasn't _exactly_ Justin Bieber famous.

"Carlisle, you're next to Rose, back there with all your new family," I said.

"How fucking considerate," he whispered with a smirk. I laughed; he married Rose, so he had to deal with her family.

"Good morning, Emmett," Vicky said, looking me up and down. "That aqua looks incredible on you. If I'd known you ten years ago..."

"Down, girl," Rose said as she pushed her sister along. "Sorry, she can't help herself." I laughed; I wasn't mad at all.

"That color_ does_ look great on you," Bell said as she stepped onto the bus. "A little too good. I'll have to talk to Leah about that."

"You're looking pretty great yourself," I said as I winked at her and told her where to sit. I was up really early this morning and was gone before she woke up. She was wearing an outfit similar to what she had on at the birthday party, only she had her gray Chucks on this time. Also, her hair was all pulled into a ponytail on one side behind one ear; for some reason, it was sexy as hell to me.

I had to agree that Jake and I looked pretty good today. We'd already gotten some of the legal paperwork filed and set up a bank account, but our company wasn't official yet and we didn't have uniforms or anything. Leah overheard us debating what to wear for today, and told us she'd take care of it. She said she picked matching outfits for us so we'd stand out.

Jake and I were both pretty tall, so two big dark-haired guys in "aqua" polo shirts did stand out. And they were nice shirts too; the material was kind of thin and felt real smooth. We also both had on long dark blue shorts with belts. I thought we looked professional, for tour guides anyway.

"What's wrong, Liz?" I asked when it was her turn to get on the bus. She was wiping her eyes with a tissue as Tony and Edward rolled their eyes behind her.

"I'm fine," she said.

"Angie just called," Tony explained. "She misses the babies, and that got Liz all worked up." The babies were at Brooke's daycare center today; she was one of the ladies who'd sat with them at the party so I was sure they'd be fine.

"You know we're doing a lot of walking, right?" I said to Tiny when it was her turn to board.

"These are my most comfortable shoes!" she said. I guess the wedges she had on were a little lower than the heels she usually wore. Two months ago, I wouldn't have known what wedges were, but since me and Tiny were so tight now, I knew all that shit and more.

"I'm excited," Edward said. "I have a good feeling about today. Good luck."

"Thanks," I replied. "I feel good too." He got on, and I smiled when I saw that Vera was next.

"Thanks for dragging him along." I pointed to my dad as I kissed her on the cheek. She laughed and so did he.

"We're excited," Vera said. "I haven't done all the touristy Seattle stuff since I was a kid. When you're from here, you think you've seen it all."

"These are really nice buses," my dad said. "I thought you'd just get some old schoolbuses or something." _No dad, this is a tour, not a trip to county lockup._ I chuckled to myself. I had a feeling he would always have crazy shit like that to say.

I heard everybody talking and laughing as they got settled, so I took a minute to jog over to the other bus. Ma hadn't arrived when I went with Ken to get the Whitlocks, and I felt that my day would go more smoothly if I greeted her now.

"Are we gonna have a good day?" I yelled when I stepped onto the other bus.

The group responded loudly which was a good sign. Not that this was a quiet bunch in the first place. On Jake's bus, I put his family, as well as Leah and her team. My mom and Waylon, their friends Christine and Randy, and Bell's family were on this bus too, as were Charlie's friend Mark and his wife, and Bell's Gran and her friend. Esme's family, Caius, and the senator's friends and assistant rounded out the group.

Jake already made me promise to buy him lunch for a month for sticking him with my mom, Esme's family, and Caius. But Jake was great with people, even better than me, and I knew he could handle them. I'd buy him three meals a day for a month if he wanted, so long as I didn't have to deal with the extra stress.

I walked down the aisle and kissed my mom as everyone said, "Awww."

"Good morning," she said with a smile. She looked really touched and flustered. Yup, that had been a good idea, especially since I knew she was probably ticked that she wasn't on my bus. Hopefully, that gesture would put her in a good mood for the day. I spoke to Waylon and gave a final nod to Rick, the driver of the second bus, before I stepped off.

"Here's to the start of great things for us," Jake said when we met in the middle of the two buses.

"You know it," I replied as we parted ways. I wanted to be nervous, I wanted to be scared, but I couldn't. Jake and I had been working for Hike Washington for a long time. I knew the city and I was confident. If we pulled this tour off, and I knew that we would, then things in my life would be changing in a big way, and soon.

* * *

"Good morning again," I said into the handset of the PA system when the bus was finally in motion. I looked over the group, very happy with my seating arrangement.

My group greeted me with way too much enthusiasm considering it was not quite eight in the morning.

"A couple of people have already asked about the costs for the places we're visiting and how the day will go, so I wanna go over the schedule now." I knew that Jake was giving a similar speech on his bus. We had planned out everything we would say.

"For anyone who doesn't know, Jake and I work for a company called Hike Washington. We give walking tours and hikes all around the Seattle area. Yes, we still work there, and yes, it's weird that we're doing this at the same time. But if you don't tell our bosses, we won't mention it either."

That got the laughs I expected. Jake and I were very up front with Laurent, our regional manager, about our plans. He was all for it because he wanted us to start up a climbing component so that we could plan some really advanced hikes which he wanted to lead. Hike Washington didn't do any really intensive hikes because of the risk and the insurance involved. But it was something Jake and I were definitely considering. Plus, we wanted to work with Hike Washington in the future; our tours were different from their tours and there was no reason we couldn't all work together for mutual benefit.

"We're starting our own company, hopefully giving tours just like this one." There were murmurs of encouragement all around, and I noticed that Bell was biting her lip as she looked at me. That shit was really hot, but I couldn't afford to get distracted right now.

"This is one big trial run for us, and you're the test group. Because of that, we don't want any money for anything. We've already got all the tickets for each stop. All you have to pay for is your lunch and any souvenirs you buy on your own." Jake and I were charging all of the costs for the tickets and the buses to our new, as-yet-unnamed company.

"We do want something in return though," I said seriously. "We need your feedback. At the end of the tour, you'll get a little bag. It'll have a few souvenirs and a comment card. Please fill out the card and bring it with you to the barbeque tonight. We'll collect them there."

Jake had worked on the comment cards. Each card also had a link to an online survey we'd created for people who wanted to give more detailed feedback. I was very much looking forward to what people would say.

"The questions on the card are open ended, but we want you to be as specific as you can. And don't be shy. We need to know what works and what doesn't."

"Don't worry," Sharon said. "We'll tell ya what we think." I laughed along with everyone else.

"Next, I want to introduce our driver for today," I said. "Everybody, this is Ken." They all yelled out greetings, and he gave a loud "Hey, folks!" in reply.

"Jake and I know Ken, and Rick, the driver of the other bus, from another company that used to give tours," I said. "They're the best, and that's why we called them."

Ken's brother, Larry, owned both of the buses, and several others. He had a successful tour business of his own until a few years ago when he got really sick. Because he was the driving force for the whole business, the company folded. Ken, Rick, and a few other people we knew were very excited at the prospect of me and Jake starting a company and possibly working for us.

"One more thing before we go over the tour stops," I said. "We asked Edward if he'd take some pictures and video of the group today. We'd like to use some of them when our website goes live. So if you don't mind helping us out in that way too, don't run from Edward if he comes up to you with a camera." Again, they all laughed.

"Our first stop will be the Ballard Locks." I launched into a brief discussion of the Chittenden Locks, its official name, and the fish ladder that was on the site as well.

"Basically, the locks keep the fresh water from the lakes from mixing with the sea water from the Puget Sound. They also adjust boats passing through the shipping canal to the right water level, and keep the lakes at the right water level too. There's a viewing area where you can see salmon going through the fish ladder. It's pretty neat.

"After that, we're going to the famous Pike Place Fish Market. Be careful about getting too close because they really do throw the fish, and sometimes the fish hit people in the crowd.

"Then, we're going to the Space Needle." As expected, a buzz went through the crowd. "I warn you now, if you're in any way afraid of heights, think twice before you go up. People always get excited to visit it without thinking about how high it is off the ground. If it'll help, you may want to close your eyes on the elevator.

"After that, we'll go to the Experience Music Project museum. It's a really cool place, a mix of science, music, and technology." I made my tone more serious before the next part; it was most important.

"You could stay all day at each of those places if you wanted," I said. "But today, we're not lingering anywhere. We want you to experience each one, kind of get a feel for each place. Hopefully, you'll visit us again and you can spend more time at some of the stops, but this is more of a teaser tour." Again, the group laughed.

"We'll have lunch after that, and then we're going on the ferry to Bainbridge Island. The ferry trip is a little over a half hour each way, and we're just gonna ride over, and come right back. The views are incredible, and we wanted you to experience that." Somebody squealed when I mentioned the ferry; I had no idea what that was all about.

"For lunch, we're going to a great restaurant. It's fairly new, and they're reserving space for us to help us stick to our schedule. They serve great seafood dishes, so you can taste all the local catches, but they have more than seafood too. So, we've got a busy day ahead of us, but if anybody can do it, it's us. _Are you with me_?" I asked that last part a lot louder and I got hoots and applause in reply. Yeah, this was gonna be fun.

I talked so long that we were almost at the Locks by the time I finished. I'd planned to point out some sights along the way, but this worked out just as well.

"Ready?" Jake asked when we arrived at the Locks, and our eager groups were waiting for us to lead them. He was grinning so wide I could see almost all of his teeth.

"Hell yeah!" I replied. "Let's do this!"

* * *

Other than a few spots of bad traffic, which we expected anyway, the morning had gone as well as we could have expected. Even the most stubborn members of our groups followed our instructions, and everyone seemed to be having a great time. We had just arrived at the restaurant for lunch. My group had just gone in, and Jake's had arrived about five minutes ago.

"Hey," Edward said from the steps of the bus. Thankfully, he was the last person off. He looked back and forth between me and Jake, and Ken the driver.

"I know it's short notice," Edward said, "but do you think we could get these buses for the game tomorrow? Then, we wouldn't have to worry about parking all our cars, and we could have some beers and not worry, like we did when we went out with the WTA guys. I'll pay for it."

"Yes!" Ken said loudly. "The buses are definitely available."

"Looks like we can," I said as all four of us laughed. "On the ferry, I'll ask around and see how many people would be interested." Ken drove off with a big smile on his face, and Edward went inside. Jake and I couldn't seem to stop grinning at each other as we took a minute to breathe.

"They had appetizers ready, just like we asked," Jake said.

"We're some genius motherfuckers," I said as he laughed.

It had taken us a lot of planning to figure out what to do for lunch. But we knew that because this was a pretty long tour, we needed to stop somewhere and have a real meal.

The solution hit us in the face one day when Chris, a former tour leader at Hike Washington, stopped by the branch to visit. He left because his sister had opened a new restaurant, and he was running the bar there. The restaurant was just a few minutes' drive from the ferry terminal.

Jake and I both had eaten there, and we knew the food and the atmosphere were good. We asked him whether they had large groups come in, and the whole plan had been hatched. They'd reserve an area for our group, and in return they got a guaranteed lunch crowd for today. Of course it would take time for everyone to get seated, place orders, and eat, but we knew we wouldn't have to wait and that would help us stay on schedule. It was a win-win situation, and Jake and I planned to explore more relationships with restaurants in the future.

"You bums eating or what?" Chris asked with a grin as he held open the door.

"You should be a little nicer to us," Jake said as we followed him inside. "Look at all the good business we brought you."

As we sat down, I looked around for Bell and my parents. I had planned to keep tabs on them at each stop, but I'd been too busy to focus on just a few people. I even had Bell sitting next to me on the bus, but I spent most of the short bus rides either on the phone with Jake or talking to Ken. But as I looked around, I realized that I had no reason to be worried.

Bell was sitting with Leah and their moms, laughing and looking beautiful and carefree. Ma was with her friend Christine, and Jasper's aunts. They were all talking and looking at pictures on their phones and cameras as they ate their appetizers. My dad was actually sitting next to Charlie and they seemed to be having a real conversation; that was definitely progress. I was brought out of my thoughts by one of the waitresses, who'd recognized Esme.

"...the lady from the kitchen show! We loved it!" Another waitress cleared her throat, and the excited woman apologized for being so loud. Esme's grandfather was grinning so wide I thought his face might split, and Esme herself was blushing and smiling.

"I'm glad you liked it," she said.

"How do you get on the show?" the other waitress asked. Esme talked to her briefly while Jake and I placed our orders with Chris.

"We never did get to see Esme's new show," Sharon said from a nearby table.

"We've got it recorded," Rose said. "You can watch it tonight at our house." While Jake and I talked and ate the appetizers that were quickly brought to us, I looked around the room again to check on the people I thought might be our biggest problems. Caius was unsurprisingly sitting with Carlisle, and the two of them were almost crying they were laughing so hard about something, and Esme's grandmother was laughing and drinking coffee with her friends. Everyone _really_ seemed to be having a great time.

"... feel sorry for that assistant that works for Esme's grandparents," Jake was saying. "I don't think I've seen her smile once all weekend."

"I know," I said. "She can't be that much older than us. But I'm sure they pay her a nice chunk of change to put up with their shit."

"Here ya go," Chris's sister said to us as she brought our food. "I can't thank you guys enough. We needed this right now. A crowd this size will really help us."

We talked to her, and Chris who joined us again, for a while as we ate. We asked them how the restaurant business was treating them, and they asked us how the branch was doing, and when we might really start our company. That was a great question that Jake and I would really have to think about. Eventually, I noticed Jake checking his watch, and I checked mine as well. We needed to start wrapping this up so we'd make the ferry.

"Can you start bringing the checks around?" Jake asked Chris.

"The check's already taken care of," he replied. "The older guy, over there." He looked right at the senator. I should have known. He damn sure had the money, so I wasn't mad. Jake went over to him and then spoke to the room.

"Hey, everybody," Jake yelled. "Robert just treated us all to lunch, so I wanted to say thanks from all of us." There were many noises around the room, some like me very appreciative, but there were some grumbles from Jasper's family. I distinctly heard someone say, "We have money too." But they said thank you along with the others. The senator stood and waved to everyone, and then Jake spoke again.

"Once you're done, head outside and we can start loading up again, the ride to the ferry terminal won't take long." When the buses returned, and each fed and contented face got back on, I knew that having lunch here had been a great idea. We could _definitely_ do this.

* * *

"How ya feeling, Billy?" I asked.

"Good, really good," he replied. "Every time I started to get tired, it was time to get back on the bus."

"We timed the whole trip around you," I said as he laughed with the others. Billy and Sue had really connected with Quil, Emily, and Johnny, the older members of Leah's team who were also American Indian, though they weren't Quileute. I'd tried to keep them together on the bus and they were all together now.

It was good to see Billy doing so well. He had a bad car accident a couple of years ago and had been in a wheelchair for a long time. He'd recovered to the point where he walked with a slight limp now. He used a cane but didn't seem to need it. I talked with them a little while longer until I left to find Jake. When I found him, we'd barely started talking when someone else found us.

"You guys are popular," Liz said, smiling at us as we leaned against the railing on the upper deck of the ferry.

"People kept askin' us what tour group we were with," Sharon said. She too was smiling.

"So we told them Emmett and Jake Tours," Liz said. This seemed to be hilarious to the two of them because they were grabbing each other as they laughed.

"Thanks. We're having a tough time with the name," Jake said as both women walked away. We still didn't get a chance to talk because Alice, Esme, Rose, and Vicky walked over to us next.

"When you get this business going," Tiny said, "you two need to make some wardrobe changes."

"I think we look _good_," Jake said. He sounded as surprised as I did by her comment.

"Me too," I said, looking down at my clothes.

"That's the fucking problem," Rose said as the others snickered and laughed.

"Leah was ready to beat some bitch's ass a little earlier," Vicky said. That made them all laugh harder. "And Bella wasn't far behind her."

"You two look very confident and sexy," Esme said with a smirk. "Everywhere we've gone, women have noticed."

"You can try to change my wardrobe," Jake said. "It won't make a difference. I can't turn off the sexy. It's part of who I am." We all fell apart laughing then.

I looked around to see if I could see Bell and Leah. I saw them both, standing a bit away, talking real fast to each other; both had their arms crossed. I hadn't noticed any near altercations, but I was sure I'd hear about it later from Bell.

"That's why we need to put our faces on all our promotional materials," Jake said seriously when they left. "We're good looking, and if that helps bring some people in, so be it."

"Let's just call it _The Hot Guys Tours and Stuff_ and be done with it," I said as he let out a huge guffaw.

"What about what Liz said?" Jake asked after a few minutes. "Emmett and Jake Tours. It's so simple we never thought of it. We kept trying to incorporate the area in our name, but do we really need to do that?"

"You make a good point, but I don't know if I want our names right out front like that," I said. "Maybe we could play around with our initials. Get something from that; it's easy for people to remember a couple of initials." We talked a little more until we were interrupted by Carlisle and his uncle.

"What's up, CC?" I asked using Rose's nickname for Carlisle. He gave me the finger while he laughed.

"I came over here to give you a compliment," he said with a grin. "But if this is how you're going to be, forget it."

"We just wanted to help out with your feedback," Caius said as he grinned too. "I didn't think I'd be impressed. I've lived here my whole life and I've seen all this stuff before. But the way you managed to get such a large group to all the big attractions in that amount of time really should be commended."

"Thanks," Jake and I said at the same time. That shit was _major _coming from Caius.

"Everybody's having a great time," Carlisle said. "I haven't heard one complaint. I think you guys really have something here."

"We appreciate that," Jake said.

"It means a lot coming from you two," I said.

I meant what I said too, because they'd really hit on what we saw as the value of our business. Our experience was what we were selling, and we were confident that it would lead to our success. There were other companies that gave tours; we knew them all. And we knew that our big edge was all the time we spent literally on the ground from the walking tours.

We knew the best entrances, the best pathways, the best overall ways to maximize time. From our travels, we also knew drivers, like Ken and Rick, who knew where they could park and where they couldn't, where they could drop off and where they couldn't. All of that added up to huge time savings. People could visit all of these places on their own, but it was highly unlikely that they'd get in and out of all of these places as quickly as we did unless they lived here and knew the area really well.

"Thank you for pointing out one of my restaurants when we went by," Caius said to Jake. He was totally trying to see if I did the same.

"I did too," I said. "Everyone was suitably impressed." He laughed and clapped me on the arm.

"How did you decide what restaurant to go to for lunch?" Carlisle asked.

"We know the owner," I replied. "Her brother used to work with us."

"Plus, it's close to the ferry terminal," Jake said.

"When you get your tours going, and go to different parts of the city, I'd love to get in on that," Caius said. I nodded, still a little stunned by this kinder, friendlier Caius Cullen.

"Seriously, guys, this was a great day," Carlisle said. "Congratulations." And with that, they left. Jake and I were talking about all the great things they'd just said about us when Vera walked up to us with Sue.

"This has been so great," Sue said. "I've been to Seattle so many times, but I've never done any of this stuff other than the Space Needle."

"My family used to go to the Locks and spend all day," Vera said. "But I hadn't been in years. It was nice to go back. I hadn't been to the music museum so that was good too." We thanked them, but Vera wasn't done.

"I just wanted to throw Greenie's name out there," she said. "If you ever do any tours near there. They've got a whole second floor for big groups, and they can always use the business."

"We'll definitely put Greenie's on our list," I said. "And tell Lauren to pay you for plugging the business." She laughed and turned to walk away.

"Hey, Vera," I said. Sue quickly realized what I wanted to talk about and started talking to Jake.

"How's he doing?" I asked. "I don't mean just today, but overall. You know him best." She knew I was asking about my dad.

"He's doing much better than either one of us expected," she said with a smile. "We knew this trip would be hard on him. This is his first time meeting all of my family too." She laughed at my shocked expression. I didn't know that.

"He never came home with me before," she said. "So the only family he's met are the ones that came down to see me. This is a big trip for him, meeting my family and yours. He's definitely overwhelmed but he's hanging in there."

"I'm glad he has you," I said. She gave me a quick hug before she and Sue walked away. I worried that all this family stuff might spook my dad; he wasn't that long out of rehab truthfully. But overall, I thought he was doing great and it made me feel good, _really _good, every time he came around.

"We could put together some tours of the smaller galleries and museums, like the Initiative," Jake said as we talked about all the restaurants we had connections with. "Then we could use places like Greenie's for lunch breaks. We know a lot of fucking people, dude. We can make this shit work."

"I know," I said as we stared at each other. The magnitude of what we could potentially do was starting to sink in. The announcement that we were at the island broke off my thoughts and we quickly gathered our groups to give them instructions.

Even if you were immediately taking the ferry back to Seattle like we were, you had to get off the ferry and line up to get back on. Those were the rules. Thankfully, no one wandered off, though several people were tempted. On the return trip, I had planned to talk to my dad, but I hadn't been able to catch him alone. He'd gone with all the other older guys on their own mini-tour of the ferry. They'd been fascinated when they heard how all the cars had to be parked in a certain way on the parking level of the ferry to balance the weight. I was sure they were all down there right now.

I spent most of the trip back being nosy, just watching our friends and family interact. Sharon, Joanne, Helen, and Sara were talking together, and earlier I'd seen George talking to Jasper's dad and uncles. That was good because Esme and Jasper didn't deserve all the drama from their families.

I also noticed that Seth, Irina, and Henry were together almost all the time. I hadn't expected Seth to hit it off with them that well, but he was funny as shit so I shouldn't have been surprised. I smiled when I saw Tiny talking to Carmen and her mom, Marisol; both of them were hairdressers too. But I stopped snooping when I got an earful of a conversation that was _not _meant for me to hear.

"...thought you'd be mad I fucked him," Vicky was saying, causing me to jerk my head around.

"I know you," Rose replied. "I would've been more surprised if you hadn't."

"Well, I can't have him all fat like that," Vicky said. "He has to lose some weight. That shit is not healthy."

"He's better off fat than all high and fucked up like he was in high school," Rose replied. "And I see the fat didn't stop you from spreading your legs." They were talking as calmly as if they were speaking about doing laundry.

"I was lonely, he was lonely, shit happened," Vicky said. "Besides, to this day, he's got the biggest..."

Yeah, that was my cue to leave. I gave a little shudder. I was just about to sit down on a bench, and mind my fucking business until the ferry got back to the terminal, when I ran right into my mom and Waylon.

"I've been looking all over for you," she said.

"Found me," I replied with a smirk. Waylon laughed and Ma cracked a smile.

"We wanted to tell you what a great time we've had," Waylon said. "It's been a long time since I've hit all the tourist spots."

"You did a good job," Ma said. "Even if you_ didn't_ want me on your bus." She looked hurt for a minute before she smirked and Waylon laughed. I talked to them a little more and then they went back to walking around the deck.

That was the nicest fucking compliment my mom had ever paid me. I had to sit the fuck down, for real. I damn sure didn't want to think about what Waylon may or may not be doing to my mom, but I'm sorry, he needed to keep that shit up.

I laughed when I saw Jasper and Maria next. He was holding her and threatening to throw her in the water. She was laughing and daring him to do it. She knew, just like I did, that her uncle would get his ass kicked if he even tried. That whole family, including Jasper, clearly adored her. I wanted to tease Jasper about how bad she owned his ass, but I couldn't because I knew if I had a little girl, I'd be the same fucking way, or probably worse.

* * *

"So, I'll take this bus to Greenie's Restaurant tomorrow at 5:45," Rick said.

"Yes," I replied. "I'll give someone a list of all the people you should have. You won't have to worry about that."

"And we'll do the 49 passenger here, stopping at the hotel first, correct?" Ken asked.

"You got it," I replied.

After much discussion, we learned that everyone was definitely on board for using the buses to get to tomorrow's baseball game. One bus would come here to _Forest Crossing_, and the other would leave from Greenie's which we realized was closer to Vera and Waylon, and also to Leah's hotel.

"And charge the same card you used for these," Jake said. I saw Edward frown.

"Sounds good," Rick said. "This went _really_ well, and thanks again." He held up the envelope of money that Jake's group had collected for him.

"You guys are pros. That's why we called you," Jake said. "Thank _you_!"

"Emmett, Jake, you guys really don't know what this means for us," Ken said, gripping his own envelope. "See you tomorrow!"

We watched as they drove the buses away. My group collected over $300 dollars as a tip for Ken, and Jake's group, with the high-rolling Platts, collected even more for Rick.

"I don't want you guys to pay for the trip to the stadium," Edward said to Jake.

"It's easier for him to deal with us," I said. "We already have an account."

"And you can still pay," Jake said with a smirk. "Just write a check to me or Em."

"When I get the invoice, I'll bring it straight to you," I said as Edward finally cracked a smile.

"Good, that's all settled," Tiny said. "We need to go, Eds. We have to get the girls." Liz was already in the car looking eager to get her granddaughters, and Edward knew better than to keep his mom _and_ Tiny waiting.

"Thanks, Bunyan," Tiny said before they left. "And you too, Jake. Today was great!"

"Wonderful," Bell said, as she grabbed my arm and gave it a tug. "Let's go."

"I would call this a success," I said to Jake with a grin. Like me, he was still lingering on the sidewalk.

"I would call you damn right," he said.

"We all know the day went great," Leah said. "Can we go now?" She was tugging on Jake's arm too.

"Hey, what time..." He couldn't finish because Leah yanked him so hard he almost fell over.

"Come _on_!" she said as he laughed and followed her to his car in the parking lot.

"Finally!" Bell said as she again yanked my arm.

"You gotta hot date or something?" I asked as I purposely slowed down.

"I'm just ready to get home," she said.

I was feeling great, and I talked about the success of the tour almost the whole way up to our condo while Bell barely said anything. I noticed that she was very fidgety, and I assumed she had to pee. Once inside, we found Sue, Leah, and Charlie in the kitchen drinking ice water as they talked and laughed.

"Emmett, I did _not _think I would have that great a time," Charlie said. "But I did. You and Jake should be proud."

"Thanks," I said. "We are." Bell practically ran to our bedroom and quickly shut the door.

"What's up with her?" Seth asked.

"Bathroom," I replied as he laughed.

"I definitely wanna go back to that music place again," Seth said. "That was pretty cool, and we only got to see part of it."

"I liked the Locks," Charlie said. "I could sit there all day, watching the boats and the fish."

"It's free," I said, smiling. "And people do sit there all day."

"I loved the ferry," Sue said. "The view was unbelievable. I can't believe we've never done that before."

"Even Jane had a good time," Charlie said as we laughed. We talked a little more, and I got some water too. Soon, Seth went to his "room", and Sue yawned.

"I think I'll shower and take a little nap," she said.

"Me too," Charlie said. "I wanna be rested up for all the eating I plan to do later."

I checked my phone, and then I went to our bedroom. I had barely entered when the door was slammed shut, and I heard the click of the lock. The television was on, and the volume was up pretty loud. None of that mattered though because my mouth fell open when I saw my fiancée. She had taken all her clothes off, and stood in front of me with a wild look in her eye. Guess she didn't have to pee after all; somebody was horny. Really horny.

"I thought you'd never shut up," she said as her eyes darted to my belt. In the time it took me to blink, she'd started to unbuckle it. I fell back against the door with a groan when she yanked down my shorts and briefs, and started stroking the hell out of my dick.

"I wanted to do this all day long," she said as she continued to rub and pull and yank with both hands. "But I couldn't."

As I was currently unable to respond, I hurried to pull my shirt off and I somehow managed to step out of my shorts and shoes as well.

"That fucking shirt messed up my whole day," she said as she looked up at me. I got hot everywhere her skin touched mine as she pressed against me. Her hands were making me crazy, and I was getting harder by the second. I tugged at my hair with my hands and shut my eyes, trying not to touch her because if I did, I knew I would blow.

"Vicky was right," she said after she kissed her way down my chest, "that color looks great on you. I wanted to fuck you right there on the steps of the bus, but you were being all super tour leader and I had to be good. How was that fair to me?"

"Um, it wasn't?" I croaked as one of her hands reached down and squeezed my sac as well. Fuck it felt good. My hips were moving now in time with the motion of her hands.

I gave up on trying to keep my hands to myself then because the hair hanging from that sexy ass fucking ponytail was brushing against me, and it was making me nuts. I wrapped it around my fist and gave it a yank which caused her to moan.

"And then I had to watch women eye-fucking you all day, everywhere we went," she said as she grasped me tighter. At some point, she started grinding on my thigh leaving a trail of wetness on my leg. I could totally smell her arousal, and that shit sent me into overdrive. I started walking towards the bed. She backed up too, following my lead.

"I wanted to tell all those bitches to back the fuck off my fiancé," she continued, practically growling, "but I couldn't because you were being Mr. Professional, and I didn't want to make a scene."

"Thanks for that," I said. She let go when I had her backed up to the bed and I pulled her into a deep kiss. She pulled away and quickly climbed on the bed and got onto her hands and knees. All remaining control left me when she looked at me over her shoulder and wiggled her ass.

"Fuck me," she said. "I've been waiting all day." The husky sound of her voice went straight to my dick.

"Sorry I kept you waiting," I said as I plunged into her. Sometimes she liked it soft and tender, but this wasn't one of those times. She wanted a hard pounding, and she'd made me so crazy that I was happy to oblige. Every scream and moan she let out spurred me on, and I was very glad that she was using her pillow to muffle some of the sound.

We were both so wound up that we didn't last very long. When we collapsed on the bed, staring at each other with dazed expressions as we tried to catch our breath, I couldn't help but smile. This day just kept getting better and better.

* * *

"No, I change my mind," Tanya said as she pointed to the far end of Rose and Carlisle's massive patio. "Move those three tables over there, and leave a big gap in the middle outside of the patio doors. And you guys bring up three more. Vicky, you start wiping off the tables and chairs, and Reenie..." I quickly followed Edward, Carlisle, and Caius as we'd been dismissed to bring up more tables and chairs from the shed.

Bell and I had arrived at Rose and Carlisle's about an hour ago after we'd been forced by our bedroom activities to take a nap of our own. The preparations for the barbeque were well under way, and the smells inside and outside of the house were out of this world.

"Let this be a lesson to all of you," Caius said. "Meet your in-laws before you make anything legal. Because _that's _what you could be stuck with." He pointed back towards Tanya. Edward and I laughed so hard we had to stop walking, while Carlisle rolled his eyes and smirked.

"I'm sorry, Caius," I said when I finished laughing. "But I'll take Tanya any day. My future mother-in-law owns a real fucking crystal ball, and one time, she tried to lay a goddamn rock on my forehead to draw out my bad energy." They all laughed harder, even Caius.

"Renée is certifiable," Caius said. "She sat behind me on the bus today. I'm amazed that Bella's as sane as she is."

"I think you win, Emmett," Carlisle said, still cracking up.

"Yeah, I think so," I said, rolling my eyes. I knew some of that holistic stuff worked for some people, and I didn't hold it against anybody who lived that way, but Renée was fucking nuts.

"Can you bring up four more tables instead of three?" Rose yelled down to us from a window above the garage. "Bring all the longer ones, and don't forget the cushions for all the chairs."

"Sure, no problem at _all_," Carlisle replied sarcastically as we laughed again. Rose blew him a kiss, and closed the window.

"When did you get all this stuff anyway?" I asked Carlisle.

"Just last week," he said. "Rose wanted to rent some extra tables and chairs for this weekend. I told her that with the gang, and all the families, we'd probably get a lot of use out of these and might as well buy them. It's not unreasonable to think we'll have other big dinners here."

Carlisle and Rose had purchased twelve patio tables with matching chairs and benches; they were currently stored in a huge shed near their six-car garage. It was crazy to me that I now had friends with six-car garages. The tables were all made from the same metal and had stone tops, but they were different sizes-some were rectangular, some were oval, some square, some round.

Because Carlisle had bought it, the furniture was not cheap and was heavy as fuck. I was surprised to see Caius and Carlisle actually doing heavy lifting, but I guess they did have to lift and move stuff for Caius's various businesses, and some of the antiques Carlisle worked with were probably pretty big too. I was a little worried about Caius but he was only lifting the chairs, which were heavy enough.

Once you got to know those two, they were pretty funny dudes. But they were so suspicious of people that they rarely let anyone get to know them. I guess I should consider myself lucky.

"Whatever they've got going on that grill smells incredible," Caius said as he helped Carlisle put some chairs on one of the dollies.

"It's a good thing Liam and a few of the others came over last night and prepped some of the food," Carlisle said. "That was a good idea."

"Jasper said it won't be as good as they normally would make because they don't have all their grills and smokers," Edward said. "But it smells pretty kick ass to me."

"Have you ever used that outdoor kitchen, or the grill?" I asked Carlisle, even though I already knew the answer.

"Of course not," he said as he laughed. "I didn't even know it had a mini-fridge under the island." That was Carlisle though; he owned so much shit he didn't even realize all that he had.

Jasper and his brothers would probably have been helping us move the furniture were it not for the fact that they, and their dad and uncles, were occupied with the grilling and all the meat. They were seriously intense about it, and they even made their own barbeque sauces. Liam, the chef, was definitely in charge, and it was easy to see that cooking was his passion. When Bell and Sue offered to help when we got here, he wasted no time putting them to work helping make the side dishes.

Maria wasn't cooking, but she was doing her part to help by playing with Tempo and Fresco out in the grass, keeping them occupied and away from everything. Peter, Tony, Charlie, and Don went to stock up on ice, and more beer and sodas; I was sure they'd drag that trip out as long as possible.

Obnoxious as she might be, Tanya had shit mobilized. She had Rose, Vicky, and Irina cleaning, Seth and Henry moving the tables and chairs where she wanted them when we brought them up, and Esme, Sara, Chelsea, and Alice getting all the dishes and utensils and stuff together. Tanya might be annoying, but she wasn't afraid to take charge and I had to respect that.

"Do you have to go get the Platts?" Carlisle asked Caius as we set the tables up. Almost everyone else who'd been at the party Saturday was coming back and would probably start arriving soon.

"No," he replied. "Albert's driver is bringing them all." Edward and I looked at each other and smirked. Caius sometimes used a driver too. It was funny to be hobnobbing with all these rich people. It used to bother me, but now I realized they were just people too, with their own problems same as me.

"If you don't mind me asking," Caius said, looking right at me. "I saw you talking to Albert and Martha on the ferry. What was that about?"

"Just the tour," I replied. "And how good tourism is for the city, stuff like that." Albert was the senator's friend, one of the four extra guests Esme's family had shown up with on Saturday. He had some big house somewhere, and that's where Esme's grandparents had been staying.

"Make sure you keep his contact information," Caius said seriously. "When he still practiced, he was a very prominent attorney for the city. He mainly worked on issues related to the Port of Seattle. Martha used to work for the Port too, and she's on the tourism board. They have a lot of connections; they're good people to know. Especially in your line of work."

"I'm glad I didn't know that beforehand," I said as Edward and Carlisle laughed. "Might have freaked me out. But thanks for the info." I couldn't wait to tell Jake what Caius just said. It was like at every point along the way today, there was a big sign over my head with flashing lights that said: **"Start the business! It will work!"**

* * *

"Give it to me straight," I said to Tiny. "What'd you think?"

"I'm really proud of you for pulling this off," she said. "I mean it. You should absolutely start that business. That's what you should be doing. You and Jake will be great at it."

"Thanks," I said, relieved. "Did you have a good time?"

"I did," she replied. "We've been in Seattle a long time, and we've never done all this touristy stuff. We went to the Space Needle once on a date but that's it."

"Seriously?" I asked.

"Seriously," she said. "We were always so busy with school or work. It was nice to sit back and take it all in."

"It was a good day," I said. "I'm glad the weather held."

"I just keep thinking about how great it is that you did all of this," she said, staring at me with those sharp gray eyes. "I've never seen Aunt Chelsea like this, or Liz and Tony. You didn't have to ask all our families here, but you did. Why?" I knew she wasn't looking for an answer; this was how our talks always went.

"Same reason you bought all that baby stuff," I said. "Which we _did _need." She smiled.

"We did," she said as she shook her head. "I don't know. It's just crazy when you sit and think about it all."

"Good thing somebody I know tells me all the time to appreciate what life brings and don't stress over it," I said.

"You know some _really_ wise and insightful people," she said as we smiled at each other.

"Those bones are bigger than they are," she said after a minute. I laughed as I looked down at Tempo and Fresco who were sitting right near us. Edward let Liam give them two huge bones from the cooking, and the puppies were gnawing on them like crazy.

"Emmett, you _have_ to try this," Joanne said as she put a piece of pie in front of me. Alice smirked.

"I really can't," I said. "I'm stuffed. I promise I'll try some tomorrow."

"You better," she said. "I'll set some aside for you to take home." She took the plate and walked back to the kitchen.

"All the moms and aunties love you," Tiny said, grinning at me.

"Why wouldn't they?" I asked as we laughed.

"I really can't eat anything else," I said.

"Me neither," Tiny said. "I feel like I've gained five pounds since the party." She took a swig of water. We'd come to sit over here, away from all the food, because we were the only people who weren't still eating.

I'd actually been eating all day. To make sure I kept my energy up during the tour, I had a big breakfast, and at lunch I ate a huge burger and a salad. I tried to get more vegetables in where I could these days, doctor's orders. Then, I was forced to eat a few hours ago after Bell's surprise sex ambush.

Ever since those episodes where I'd zoned out the other week, if I got so much as a little hungry, I made sure I ate something. I did _not_ want to go through that shit again so I was trying to stay on top of my health. I was trying to put weight on, but with as many good calories as possible. It wasn't just losing Fe that caused my body to get so rundown; it was my whole schedule over the past year. I was making an effort to change for the future.

"You can walk some of it off on the neighborhood walk in the morning," I said. I had mapped out a mile-long hike using the walking paths in _Forest Crossing_, and that was tomorrow morning's only planned activity.

"No can do, Bunyan," she said. "That's when I'm taking Bella, Marie, and Carlisle over to see Mrs. Walsh and all her books."

"I forgot about that," I said.

"Don't worry. Eds is going on your hike," she said, smiling as she looked at him. He was at one of the tables, laughing with Jasper, as he piled a plate high with food. It was not his first.

"If he's able to walk tomorrow," she added, which caused both of us to laugh.

"You can't blame him," I said. "That food was fucking great."

"_So_ great," she agreed.

Jasper's family smoked and/or barbequed ribs, chicken, sausage, and brisket, and they did pulled pork too. Liam even barbequed some salmon in honor of Seattle. In addition, there were regular cookout staples like hamburgers and hot dogs, plus all the sides they made like potato salad, cole slaw, and baked beans all from scratch. On top of all that, it seemed like everybody had a special dessert I _had _to try, and I didn't want to be rude. I tried a little of as much as I could before I had thrown in the towel.

"I gotta take this," Tiny said when her phone rang. "I'll be back." I chuckled because Tempo, who was usually stuck to Alice like glue, looked torn between working on his bone or following her. Ultimately, he chose the bone.

"Are you really done eating?" Bell asked as she sat in the seat Alice had just left. She too had a full plate of food.

"I am," I said. "You seem to forget that I was ambushed earlier and had to eat to recover."

"Well, you shouldn't have looked so sexy today," she said as she shrugged her shoulders and started eating.

"Did you have a good time?" I asked. "I never actually got the chance to ask."

"I really did," she said. "Even though my fiancé gives tours for a living, we never do stuff like that."

"I'm sure your fiancé wanted to do stuff like that, but had a hard time getting on your schedule," I replied.

"That used to be true," she said. "But as luck would have it, my schedule is wide open now. I'll be around so much he might get tired of me."

"I don't think he'd ever get tired of somebody like you," I said. "You're smart, you're gorgeous, and you can eat your weight in barbeque." She fell out laughing, and kept right on eating.

Bell seemed so free now. That was the only way I could describe it. I had never seen her like this because the whole time I'd known her, she'd worked for Aro. Now that she was done with her jobs for him, she was a different person. Add to that Leah and her family being in town, and she was almost floating on air. I wanted her like this always.

"Now that my mind is not clouded by lust," she said, "I want to tell you that I'm_ really _proud of you. You're gonna be great at this. I know it."

"Even if I drive all the female tourists wild?" I asked with a smirk.

"You might drive some of the men wild too," she said as we both laughed. "It doesn't matter though because in a few months, you'll have a ring on your finger and they'll know you belong to somebody. And that somebody is _me_." She raised her eyebrow at me and smirked back.

She was damn right about that. I belonged to her, and that was _perfectly_ fine with me.

* * *

**A/N: And so we have Emmett's take on things! As always, thanks for reading and let me know what you think!**

**I have updated the blog (gjficfan (dot) blogspot (dot) com). I've included a seating arrangement for the bus, and I've added the chapters and a picture on each chapter page related to that chapter's content. Check it out if interested. **

**I hope to have the next chapter up soon!**


	5. Chapter 5

**A/N: Stephenie Meyer owns **_**Twilight**_**. I just mixed up the couples and brought all their families to town.**

**Beta Thanks****: Many thanks to my beta, ExquisiteEdward. It's nice to know that I have a kindred spirit out there to vent with about life's peaks and valleys. Please know that in addition to helping me become a stronger writer, you keep me sane!**

* * *

**Tuesday, September 20, 2011**

**EmPOV**

"Thanks for everything," Heidi said. "I mean it. You've been so good to me."

"I'm glad you came," I said. "We'll keep in touch." I hugged my almost sister-in-law tightly.

"You stay out of trouble," I said to Fallon who laughed.

"What fun would that be?" she replied with a grin.

"Steve, it was good to meet you," Heidi said. "I'll see you next time I visit."

"Sure thing," my Dad said.

After the neighborhood walk this morning, I knew I'd be taking Heidi and Fallon to the airport. I decided to ask my Dad if I could pick him up so that he could go with us. Something had been on my mind, and I wanted to talk to him alone. He agreed to come with me.

"You up for lunch?" I asked as we walked back to the car.

"Sure, I got nothing but time."

"Where to? I really don't know what kinds of things you like anymore."

"I like Mexican," he said.

"I know a great place then." As I drove, I decided there was no time like the present to say what I wanted.

"I don't mean to ambush you or anything," I said carefully. I could feel him looking over at me. "I was thinking we could go over to Waylon's and see Ma after lunch. I think we should talk about the house in Forks."

"She can have it," he said quickly. "I don't want any..."

"I think_ you _need to tell her that," I said.

"I really don't want to go," he said. "Not to see her today, and especially not back to Forks. But if you want me to go, I'll go."

"Thank you. I want you there." I was glad he was agreeable because I felt like he owed me this much at least.

I called Ma when we got to the restaurant. She wasn't happy at the thought of my Dad coming over there, but she admitted that she had been wanting to talk about what to do with the house so she agreed. My Dad looked nervous while I talked to her, but he didn't say anything.

"Will you let me pay for lunch?" he asked after the waiter brought our menus. "I feel like a freeloader this weekend. I might have been a drunk, but I didn't waste all my money."

"Knock yourself out," I said. "I don't argue when people want to spend their money on me." He smiled.

"That party must have set you back a pretty penny."

"Not really," I said. "The catering was the main thing I spent money on. All of us paid for something this weekend. It's really been a group thing."

The tour stuff we charged to the business. Rose and Carlisle, and Jasper and Esme, paid for all the food for the barbeque. Caius got the suite for the game, and Edward paid for the buses for tonight. We knew the families had spent a lot of money on flights, and we didn't want them to spend a lot of money when they got here.

Our food came just as he got a call from Vera; whatever she said made him smile. He hung up quickly.

"How'd you meet Vera?" I asked after we'd eaten some of our food.

"We both work at the Venetian. She's a cage cashier, and I'm in meeting services. I break down tables, set up rooms, that kind of thing. I was off one day, but I went to talk to Scott."

Scott was my Dad's friend from Forks, the one who got him to go to Vegas in the first place. I never really cared for that dude, and I was glad my Dad was coming back here away from him.

"He works one of the tables not far from the cage where she works. I had a Seahawks shirt on, and she said something to me when I walked by. That's how it started. You gave me that shirt, by the way, so thanks."

"No problem." I knew exactly what shirt he was talking about because I always tried to send him something for Christmas, and that year, I'd sent him all Seahawks stuff.

"Did they fire you over the drinking?" I asked.

"Believe it or not, they didn't," he said. "They put me in an employee assistance program, and I'm on unpaid leave." I chuckled because I was on unpaid leave myself at the moment.

"I've been drinking for years," he said, as if I didn't know. "But I always did a good job at work. At the rehab place, they said I was a high-functioning alcoholic." He actually smiled about that, or maybe at some memory from his time there.

"I got home one day, and Vera was waiting for me. She had all these bottles and cans and shit all over the counters in the kitchen. I thought she was taking it in for recycling. But when I asked, she said that it was all stuff I had drank, just that week alone. Seeing it all out like that..." He shook his head.

"And then she told me that her ex had a bad drinking problem, and she wasn't going through that again. She said we should be happy we found each other at our age, and she wanted to be with me for the long haul and couldn't sit by and watch me kill myself." I wanted to say something as he paused, but I didn't want to interrupt him.

"So, it wasn't some big dramatic scene to get me to go. Because I love her, and seeing all those bottles laid out like that shook me up too. I didn't think I was drinking_ that _much. She had a number to a place, and we called. They took me right away."

"I'm glad she showed you," I said, barely able to talk. "I'm glad you went."

"You and me both. It's hard every fucking minute of every fucking day," he said. "Every table around us, somebody's drinking. And I can't."

I looked around, and noticed that he was right. Even though it was only lunchtime, every table around us had a beer, or a margarita, or a pitcher of sangria. I hadn't noticed, but I didn't have a drinking problem.

"They said it'll get easier with time, but right now, sometimes I don't think I can make it. But I know me, and I know I won't be able to have just one drink. So I can't."

"Don't," I said a little more roughly than I wanted to. Now that he was here, I wanted him to stay.

"I'm trying not to," he said. We ate the rest of our lunch and talked a little more, but it wasn't until we were in the car and on our way to see Ma that he started asking questions about me.

"Bella?" he asked when I hung up the phone.

"Yup." She'd called as I was buckling my seatbelt to tell me to come over to Rose and Carlisle's when I got back because she was there with the gang, eating leftover barbeque.

"She's gorgeous," he said. "Seems like a nice girl."

"I know, and she is."

"Do you want kids?" he asked.

"Oh yeah," I said. "Can't wait really."

"Does she?" he asked.

"She does," I said. He nodded and looked out of the window.

"You'll be a good dad," he said. "Better than me anyway." I didn't know what to say to that, so I didn't say anything. I drove along and was surprised by his next question.

"So you're pretty close with Alice?" he asked.

"Definitely," I replied.

"She's hot," he said as I snorted.

"You two are just friends, right?" Finally, I saw where he was going with his question.

"Yes, she's like a sister to me," I said, laughing. "The rest of the gang said they've been getting questions like this all weekend from their families too. We're all just friends, not friends with benefits."

"I was just making sure," he said as he laughed with me. "I like Bella, and I don't want to see her get hurt."

"Look at you, all protective and shit," I said. "You don't have to worry. First of all, even though I'm bigger, Edward would beat my fucking ass if he _thought_ I was trying something with Alice. Those two... I can't describe it. They've been together since they were like thirteen or fourteen..."

"Really?"

"_Really_. They're close. That's not even the right word. They're almost connected. It's crazy sometimes. But no matter what she looks like, she's got a lot going on underneath. She had a rough time growing up. The two of us really get each other; we were like that from the minute we met."

"And Bella's okay with that?"

"Not at first. But she gets it now, or she tries to anyway. And I'm better about her and Carlisle."

"What about them?"

"They used to work together, and I never trusted him. I always thought he had a thing for her, and she talked about him all the time."

"What do they do? I don't really understand. I know it's something to do with books."

"She worked for Aro Volturi." My Dad whistled. Everybody knew who Aro was.

"I heard he had a big place in Seattle," he said. "He's got one in Vegas too." Aro had homes all over the place.

"Bella spent a lot of time with Marie growing up, and Marie taught her how to preserve books and appraise them. She knows all about the market for old books, you know, like antiques."

"I get it now," he said. "We've had some conferences with antique dealers, and they go nuts over that shit."

"You got it. So Bell's been learning that stuff her whole life, and she's really smart so she knows all about literature too. When she was in college, Aro had some event there and they met, and he asked her to work for him. He has some big rare book collection."

"And I'm sure Bella's looks didn't have anything to do with his job offer," he said with a smirk.

"Of course not," I replied with a smirk of my own as I shook my head. "First, she worked with him on his collection, making a catalog or something. Then, he started the museum. She's worked there from the beginning, but he made her director last year."

"So Carlisle does what she does?"

"No, he's an antiques broker, and he helped her get a lot of the stuff Aro wanted for the displays at the museum. They worked really close, and I hated it."

"I bet Rose wasn't happy either."

"She wasn't, but it's good now. Rose is cool as hell."

"When I saw her, I thought she was just his trophy wife," my Dad said. "But she talked to Vera for a while at the cookout, and I realized she's got a lot to say."

"She's good for Carlisle. He's so uptight. She loosens him up." He didn't have any other questions about my _relations_ with the gang, and I smiled. We were quiet for a few minutes before I asked him about his conversation with Charlie.

"I saw you talking to Charlie yesterday," I said. "How'd that go?" He rolled his eyes.

"First thing he said was, 'Nice to see you not in the backseat of my squad car.' Fucker." I tried not to laugh but couldn't help myself.

"And now you got me about to be in-laws with that boy scout, goodie-two-shoes jackass," he said. "Thanks for that."

"Welcome," I said, still chuckling. "I'm not really laughing at Charlie. I'm laughing at your reaction. He's always been there for Bell. He's a good guy."

"I know," he said much more seriously. "It's just he was always the good kid, and I always wasn't. And he never let me forget it." I really didn't want to hear any more about the old days in Forks, so I got him talking about the tour and what he thought about it. To my surprise, he had much more to say about the people on the tour than the tour itself.

"Did I tell you I know Esme's aunt?" he asked.

"No way!"

"Yeah, the Platt Real Estate annual meeting is a major account. They almost always have it in Vegas. They had it at the Venetian one year, and once at Caesars, where I used to work."

"It's such a small world, we keep saying it."

"I don't know her personally or anything, but I'll never forget her," he said. "That woman eats balls for breakfast." I laughed so hard I had a coughing fit.

"She's one of the few big shots that would actually come down to talk to us peons," he continued. "To make sure we didn't fuck up." I kept laughing; I could only imagine.

"I wasn't surprised at all when she said that shit to Jasper's family," he said. "She's a real piece of work, and I'm being nice when I call her that."

"When she's around Esme, she's smiling and laughing," I said. "It's hard for me to think of her any other way, but I was there at the party, and I saw how she was. Did she remember you?"

"Peon, remember?" he reminded me as we cracked up.

"I think you might get bored when you move here," I said. "Sounds like you have an interesting life there."

"Nah, I'll find something to do to keep busy," he said. "Always have. We work really hard. There's always extra shifts to pick up if you want them, at least where we are. I think it'll be good to take a break for a while."

I wanted to tell him that I was sure Jake and I would need help with getting the business set up, and that I'd love for him to help. But I couldn't say it. As good as it felt to have him here now, I still wasn't convinced he wouldn't run away again, like he always had. If he was here six months from now, maybe then we'd talk.

"Where will you live when you move here?" I asked.

"Where we're staying now, in the house they all grew up in. Since they put their parents in the senior apartment, Tina doesn't want to stay there by herself. She's moving in with Lauren." Tina was another of Vera's sisters, there was another one too besides Lauren, but I couldn't remember her name. I'd met them all at the picnic.

"You're always welcome at our place if they drive you too crazy," I said.

"I'll be taking you up on that. That's a promise."

"Can I ask you a question?" I asked.

"Sure."

"Don't you want to marry Vera? Make it official?"

"Yes," he said. "She wants it, and so do I."

"Why didn't you ever start the divorce proceedings then?" He sighed, and rubbed his forehead before he answered.

"I guess I tried not to think about the marriage. Once I left, I wasn't interested in coming back or dealing with anything from Forks."

"Like us," I said.

"Yes." He put his head down. I didn't mean to say it out loud, but the shit was true. I guess I should be glad he ever let me know he was in Vegas at all. He could have disappeared completely.

"And Jane turned so religious," he said, "I didn't think she'd go for it, so I just never bothered. When they gave me those papers, I almost went into shock."

"She was so mad when you didn't show for the funeral," I said. "She was seriously pissed. That's when she got the papers done."

"I think I was _meant_ to be in rehab when I found out about your brother, and then when I got the divorce papers," he said. I noticed he was looking out of the side window, not at me.

"If I hadn't been there when I found out... the guilt would have ate me up." He was wiping his eyes, and I stared straight ahead so I wouldn't start crying.

"I always felt like Felix got the worst of me, and you got the best," he said. "Part of me says if I'd been around, he would have been... better. Then, part of me says I would have made him that much worse. I still should have been there more; dads shouldn't just leave. But I couldn't..."

"Please stop," I said. I was driving and I didn't want to get upset too. "There was a lot of stuff that you could have done differently. It doesn't matter now. Maybe you get some of the blame for Fe, but you don't get all of it."

"That's what they helped me see in therapy," he said, wiping his eyes. "But still..."

"_But still_, you're here now," I said loudly. "It took a lot for you to show your face. It means a lot to me that you did. We, both of us, have to stop living in the past."

"You're right," he said. "They said that in therapy too. It's hard though."

"It is for me too," I said. "But I'm telling you right now that I want you around. I don't want you to leave again when you move here."

"I can't leave," he said. "I got nothing else. I'm lucky, damn lucky, to have you and Vera giving me another chance. I don't deserve it."

"Whether you deserve it or not is really up to us to decide."

"It would make things way easier if you would yell at me, or hate me," he said.

"I'm not gonna do that, it would serve no purpose. All I wanna do from now on is move forward. With you." He smiled a little and stared at me.

I didn't park very straight at Waylon's house. I was a little worked up, and my Dad was too. We sat in the car for a few minutes just to be able to go inside.

"Ready?" I asked when I felt more in control of myself.

"I'm good," he said. "You're right. It's time to get all this shit resolved."

* * *

I parked in front of Rose and Carlisle's, behind the other cars. They'd left their security gate open most of the weekend since so many of us were back and forth. I walked around the path to the patio and was quickly greeted by Fresco.

"'Sup, little guy," I said as I rubbed him on the head. His tail started wagging like crazy.

"Emmett!" the gang called out as I approached. I waved to them all. The entire gang was here, plus Vicky, Leah, and Jake.

"Hey!" Bell said brightly, coming up to me when I neared her table. She acted like I was the best thing she'd ever seen.

"Hey!" I said in the same way. She couldn't stop grinning, even when I bent to kiss her. "You must have had fun with all those books."

"You have no idea." If a person could orgasm from looking at fucking books, then Bell just did.

"How was your mom?" she asked.

"She took it..."

"You better get some food before it's all gone," Carlisle said to me before I could finish.

"Just had a big lunch, sorry," I replied before I turned to Bell.

"I'll tell you later," I said. Looking around, I saw food, I saw plates, but I didn't see babies.

"Are the girls here?" I asked.

"They're inside," Edward said. "Naptime."

"Did all the moms and aunts go shopping like they said this morning?" I asked him. He nodded.

"Early day?" I asked Jake as I sat beside him. I thought he'd still be down at the branch, but he was here in his uniform.

"I took off after I did the last training session," he said. "I really wanted to read those comment cards. And there was nothing pressing that I had to do." We agreed last night that we'd wait until today and look at the cards together.

"Did Charlie get back?" I asked Bell.

"No, they're still out," she said. Charlie, Tony, and most of the older guys took it upon themselves to go back to the Ballard Locks today.

"I thought you were working today?" I asked Leah.

"I am," Leah said. "They're letting me have off tomorrow so I can go with you guys to take Seth to school. I'm not going to the game tonight, so I thought I'd at least come get some grub."

"Is your team still going?" I asked.

"Yeah, I'll drop them off, but I've got some work I really need to finish."

"No problem," I said. "I just need to let Vera know. She has the list of who's supposed to be on the bus at Greenie's."

Except for the people who'd already gone home, most everyone who'd come to the party would be at the game tonight, plus a few extras. Caius reserved space for 98 people and said it would be a shame to waste any of the seats, so Vera and Waylon both were bringing a few more family members.

Yesterday, nearly everyone agreed with Edward about traveling by bus to the game. Vera and Waylon started talking, and realized that their families didn't live that far apart. They decided to meet up at Greenie's which was closer, and we arranged for one bus to pick people up there. The hotel Leah's team was using for its base was closer to Greenie's too, so they'd be on that bus as well.

Caius had already made arrangements for Esme's family, as well as Marie and her friend, to get to the game. Everyone else would be leaving from here at _Forest Crossing_. Like yesterday, the second bus would stop at the hotel first to pick up the Whitlocks.

I sent Vera a text about Leah not going, and she wrote back almost immediately to confirm. She had a little extra note too.

_**thx for your dad. he's real happy you spent time with him. **_

I must have stared at it too long because Bell leaned over, read the text, and smiled.

"I like your Dad," she whispered. "I think he'll stick around this time."

"Yeah," I mumbled, not sure if she even heard me. I wanted her to be right, but I wasn't going to be surprised if that didn't happen.

Something brushed against my leg, and I found Tempo pawing at me to give him a handshake. Or maybe a pawshake. Either way, it was our new thing, when he managed to pull himself away from Alice.

"Hey, bud," I said as I gave him what he wanted. "You were good protection this morning." Edward and Rose laughed.

"Protection from?" Tiny asked.

"The vicious deer and squirrels we saw," Rose said, smiling at the puppies.

"Weimaraners _are_ hunting dogs," Edward said. "They were just doing what they know."

"They didn't kill them, did they?" Esme asked.

"No," Vicky said, laughing at Esme. "But they scared the shit out of the deer. Those dogs are fast. I don't think you'll have to worry about any critters getting into your house, Alice."

"Did you really see deer?" Bell asked.

"Yup," I replied. "Two. I've seen them on some of my runs. I saw a fox once too."

"Aunt Chelsea said she had fun on the walk," Alice said. "Sorry I missed it."

"We did," I said. Rose rolled her eyes.

Rose and Vicky, Esme and her mom Sara, Sue and Chelsea, Jasper's mom and aunts, and Liz and Edward made the mile-walk with me around the neighborhood this morning. The triplets - - in one single stroller and one double stroller - - went also, as did Tempo and Fresco. Of everyone, Rose complained the most. She actually was the _only_ person who complained.

"You don't exercise much, do you?" I asked, trying not to laugh at her.

"Not on her feet, no," Vicky said as everyone laughed. Rose's sister seemed to be having no trouble fitting in with the gang which was good because I had a feeling she wasn't going anywhere anytime soon.

"I never knew all that stuff was here," Rose said, ignoring Vicky's comment. "The playground, the wishing well, the tennis court."

"I never saw the wishing well," Alice said.

"Emmett will just have to lead another walk," Esme said. "You have to leave one of the main paths, and follow a stone walkway. The wishing well is right at the edge of a drop-off in the forest and the view is amazing."

"They've got a railing up," I said to Tiny. She looked alarmed when Esme said _drop-off._ "And I'll be happy to lead another walk." We talked more, until Jake decided to read the comment cards.

"Attention, everybody," he said. "We're about to find out what you had to say about our maiden voyage."

"Can you call a bus trip a voyage?" I asked with a smirk.

"Silence!" he replied as he opened the first card.

_The Indian fellow was our guide; he really knew his stuff! Had a wonderful time._

"Wonder whose family wrote that one?" Jake asked when he stopped laughing. We all turned to Esme who covered her face with her hands which made us laugh more. Only her family would say something like "The Indian fellow".

Jake read a few more; the majority of them were positive.

_I would pay money for this tour, and I live here!_

_Just enough time at each place. No time to get bored. Perfect perfect perfect._

But there was one that had more solid feedback, and we all knew who wrote it:

_1. The stops felt too short, but that's understandable, considering how many attractions were fit in. _

_2. I might have chosen different routes through the city, to speed things up, but I suppose the drivers knew what they were doing. _

_3. Would have also selected a different restaurant. I wasn't all that impressed with it. Too kitchy. I would have chosen somewhere more upscale to leave a better impression of the fine food the city has to offer. Having said that, the masses were pleased by it, so I guess that's all that matters. _

"Thank you, Caius," I said as all of us fell apart laughing, even Carlisle.

And then there were the_ other_ comments:

_-I'd follow my leader's tight ass anywhere he wanted to go._

_-Would have liked more _personal_ attention from my tour guide, but other than that, the trip was fine._

_-Trip: good. Emmett: HOT!_

"I swear I didn't write that one," Bella said, wiping her eyes. She was laughing so hard she was crying.

_What can I say about Jake? I _very_ much enjoyed the sights today, and the tour stops too, ha ha!_

"That wasn't me," Leah said, grabbing her stomach as she laughed.

We read a bunch more, but stopped when we reached our favorite.

_I had so much fun today. I like Emmett alot. He's so cool. It was nice that he took us to the sites. I took lots of good pictures. And Jake is cool too but I was not on his bus._

"Maria's so sweet," Rose said. Jake and I couldn't stop smiling.

"She's a good kid," Jasper said.

"I'm happy she approved of me," Esme said. "I was almost more worried about her opinion than the rest of the family."

"So what_ is _the verdict on Esme?" Edward asked Jasper.

"They like her, but..." Jasper said.

"I knew there'd be a but," Esme said.

"BUT they said she needs to put some weight on," Jasper said. "Nan said a good wind would knock her over." That caused all of us to laugh. Esme _was_ pretty thin.

"If that's the worst they had to say, I think I can handle it," she said, looking very relieved.

"I think they're plannin' on talking more about the wedding tonight, so get ready," Jasper said. He said that in warning, but Esme's face lit right up.

"Speaking of the wedding," she said. "Bella, I was looking at dresses earlier and I saw one that would be perfect for you."

"My dress is taken care of Esme, but thanks," Bell said.

Tiny almost spit out what she was drinking, and Esme's eyes almost popped out of her head. Rose threw down her napkin and sighed.

"What do you mean_ taken care of_?" Tiny asked.

"I've already picked a dress," Bell said calmly, while Leah was trying not to laugh at Rose, Esme, and Tiny.

"When did this happen?" Rose asked. "You just got engaged last week."

"We did an exhibit once on Church in Early America," Bell said. "There was a section on weddings." Alice groaned, and Esme shook her head.

"The exhibit featured some antique dresses and suits, and some replicas. I loved one of the replica dresses. I already contacted Cory, the woman who made it."

"But Bella, let us..." Esme pleaded.

"No buts," Bell said firmly. "I think I'm being _very _good about all of this. I didn't freak out about the party, and I didn't get mad when Alice went and reserved a reception room behind my back." Tiny turned her head away when Bell said that.

"I'm thankful for all you've done, but it's our day and we'll make the final decisions," Bell said with authority before she turned to me and smiled. Honestly, I _didn't_ want a say in the wedding. I was hoping somebody would tell me what to wear and what time to be there.

"That reminds me," Bell said. "I need you all to meet with Cory about the bridesmaids' dresses. She needs all your measurements. And Lee, your dress is different because you're maid of honor." Leah gasped, as did Esme, Tiny, and Rose.

"You want me to be maid of honor?" Leah asked. I could see the tears forming.

"Of course I do," Bell said, rolling her eyes.

"And you want us, for bridesmaids?" Tiny asked. Her voice sounded a little shaky too.

"Yes," Bell said. "I guess I shouldn't have blurted it out like that. Leah, you know what you mean to me. We've been through so much together. Would you please be my maid of honor?" Leah nodded, tears pouring down her face.

The rest of us, including Vicky, looked at each other and tried not to laugh. They seriously had to know she would ask them. I mean, come on!

"Rose, Alice, Esme, you're much more than friends to me now; you're like family. Would you be my bridesmaids?" They all screamed and started talking over each other before they stood and started hugging.

"Don't cry or anything," I said to Jake who busted out laughing. "But would you be my best man?" He picked up a napkin and pretended to wipe his eyes.

"Yes!" he replied, all dramatic, like he was in a play or something. The guys laughed along with us.

"Jasper, Carlisle, and Edward," I said, putting as much drama into it as I could. "You're like, the best friends a guy could have, would you make my whole fucking life and be my groomsmen?" They all agreed when we stopped laughing.

"You are _not _funny, Bunyan," Tiny said, narrowing her eyes at me. "This is a huge deal." She looked really pissed at me, as did Rose, which caused all of us guys to start laughing again. The women, including Vicky this time, went inside.

"You picked a place for the reception already?" Jake asked. "That was fast."

"I didn't pick anything," I replied. "We can thank Alice, and Edward actually."

"I'm no Carlisle," Edward said, "but I have a few connections." This made us laugh again, especially Carlisle. He could be standoffish, but he did know a ton of people.

"The wedding's at Bell's church, Faith Celebration," I said. "The reception will be at the WTA, on the top floor."

"Daaaamn," Jake said, letting out a whistle. "Swanky."

"Have you been there?" I asked, wondering when he'd ever been to the theatre.

"Yeah," he replied to my surprise. "The Native American Festival has been at the WTA a couple of times, and I was on the committee one year. We had a few meetings up there in that room at the top. It's got windows all the way around. It's a great view."

"It's on New Year's day, so keep it open," I said. "I'm just happy Bell agreed to it. You know how she gets."

"Hey, I'm still surprised she said _yes _when you proposed," Jake replied with a grin.

* * *

By 6:20, all close to 90 of us had arrived at Safeco for the game. We had almost an hour before it would start. I'd been to more Mariners' games in my life than I could count, but not once had I been in one of the suites.

Inside of the suite were stations for food, some of which had already been set up. There were tables and chairs around the room, and a door that led to the seats out in the actual stadium. Several adjoining suites had been opened up to accommodate our large group, and people seemed impressed. I wasn't sure how I felt just yet.

"What's goin' on?" Jasper asked as he walked over to me where I stood looking out over left field. I knew better than to say nothing; he would use all his psychology tricks on me to get me to talk.

"I don't really know," I replied honestly. "I just feel... off."

"You look upset," Edward said from behind me. Thankfully, the loud voice of Caius boomed out over the room, asking for everyone's attention. He prevented Jasper and Edward from asking me anything else.

"It's good to see you again," Caius said. He was standing on something, but I couldn't tell what. "Because we have a little time before the start of the game, I've arranged for a quick tour. If you want to come along, meet outside in the hallway. We'll be leaving in a few minutes. You'll be back in time for the first pitch."

Most of the guys immediately walked into the hallway, and some of the women did as well. Jake would have loved this, but he called earlier; he suddenly had something to do and couldn't come. I suspected Leah was the something.

When the room cleared a little, I noticed three official-looking guys standing near Caius smiling and talking with him. They clearly worked for the team.

I also saw one of the pitchers and one of the backup outfielders, actual Mariners players, standing in the hall. They weren't scheduled to play tonight, and they were lapping up the attention from the group.

"Caius digs into his bag of connections, yet again," Edward said.

"I gotta give him a few props on this one," Jasper said as they laughed.

"You're not going?" Edward asked when they moved to follow the group and I didn't. I wanted no part of this special perk tour.

"Nah, I'll stay here, I'm good." They both looked at me, then back at the door. The group was already moving down the hall.

"Go!" I insisted. "I'm fine." Those two loved baseball, and I didn't want them to miss this because of me.

"I'll talk to him," Tiny said, looking straight at me. "You two go on." Her presence appeased them because they ran to catch up to the group. I walked outside and sat in the last row of seats, right in front of the divider between the indoor and outdoor portions of the suite.

"You didn't wanna go?" I asked.

"I didn't want to be here at all, so no," she said.

"I forgot," I said, smiling for the first time since we'd gotten here. Tiny had volunteered to stay home with the babies, but everyone insisted that she be here. Alice was more of a homebody than people realized.

"Of all the baby stuff you bought that day," I said, "I think those playpens got used the most."

"They're handy, that's for sure," she replied. After checking with Caius to see if babies were allowed, Liz brought along one of the portable playpens for the girls. It might get used if the moms and aunts stopped holding the babies long enough.

"What's up?" she asked. "You were fine on the bus." I shrugged. I really didn't understand what the hell was up with me.

"Like I told Edward and Jasper, I feel _off_," I said.

"Would you feel this way if you were in the cheap seats again, like when you were here with Edward and the guys from the WTA?"

"I don't think so," I said.

For the countless time since I'd met her, I wondered whether Alice was psychic. I truly believed that she was because when I thought over what she just said, I understood exactly what was bothering me.

"This doesn't feel right. This suite, the special tour, the players coming up here, it's like all the special stuff, the special treatment, Fe used to get our whole lives. I didn't like it then, and it bothers me now."

"Bunyan, it's just a suite, and it was just a tour," Tiny said. "Caius likes to show off; we know this." I laughed then, and she did too.

"Don't start freaking out," she said. "It doesn't make you a hypocrite or a bad guy for being up here."

"I'm a cheap seats guy though," I mumbled.

"You don't have to be only one type of guy your whole life," she said. "You're putting too much significance on this whole thing. You're not changing who you are, you didn't even plan this." She stared at me with those sharp gray eyes that saw way more than she let people know.

"This is all about the families and them bonding and getting to know each other. It's no big deal. We could be at the clubhouse watching the game. We just happen to be here. It's a good thing."

I nodded, took a deep breath, and let it out. I felt much better now that I'd talked to Tiny; I always did.

"You might as well come out here, Bella," she said with a smirk. "I know you're there."

I thought Bell had gone on the tour with the others; she'd been out in the hall with Charlie, Renée, and Phil when the players were out there. Yet, here she stood in front of us.

"You're such a bitch sometimes," she said to Tiny as they both snorted and laughed. "I just wanted to make sure he was okay."

"He's like a big, giant, shit-for-brains brother to me," she said. "I like to make sure he's okay too."

"Hey!" I said, putting my hand over my heart to pretend like my feelings were hurt. They both laughed. Bell sat in front of me, and turned to face me.

"Is that really how you felt?" Bell asked. "Guilty for being up here, like you're selling out or something?"

"Pretty much, yeah," I said. "Why are you crying? I'm okay." She wasn't actually crying, but she was close.

"It really makes me sad that you two have all this... pain... that connects you," she said. "You're two really good people, and it sucks that so many bad things have happened to you."

"Thanks, Bella," Tiny said. "Having somebody to talk to, who really understands, helps a lot. We've all said it a thousand times, but it's the reason we all met. To help each other."

We stood to go back inside. I for one planned to get some of the food that was being set up. At first, there were just snacks. Now, I could smell the hot dogs and burgers. But we stopped in our tracks and looked at each other in shock when we heard the voices right on the other side of the wall.

"Battle of the Grandmas, Round Two," Tiny whispered. We sat our asses right back down and shamelessly listened in.

"...can't force me to like people if I don't," Esme's grandma said.

"I don't give two shits if you don't like me," Jasper's Nan said. "But you_ will_ respect my grandson."

"I don't have a problem with Jasper," Esme's grandma replied. "_He _knows how to conduct himself."

Bell pressed her hand over her mouth so hard I was sure it would leave a handprint.

"I had certain expectations for my granddaughter and they did not include marrying into your... _folk_. It might be hard for you to understand, but that's the truth."

"My grandson can have his pick of gals. _Younger _gals. Remember that next time you wanna look down on somebody," Nan said. "That Esme is no spring chicken."

I thought that was a low blow. At 32, Esme was older than all of us but Carlisle, and they were just a month apart. She was four years older than Jasper, but he didn't care.

"But would those women have access to the type of wealth that Esme has? I think not. It makes you wonder why he_ isn't_ with one of those young girls."

"Y'all are so worried about that damn money," Nan said. "I hate to break it to ya, but we tore down the tar paper shacks a few years ago. We all got houses and property and money too. Plenty enough for us to live off of. I even got running water now."

I had to throw my hand over _my _mouth then, and I thought a snort escaped anyway. Those two were fucking brutal. That shit was hilarious.

"You missed your calling as a comedian," Esme's grandma said. "But I'm not much in the mood for laughing today."

"Laughin' might make ya lose hold of some of that money," Nan said.

Tiny, Bell, and I were seriously about to lose it.

"I've had just about all that I can take of you for this evening," Esme's grandma said. "But you haven't seen the last of me. I _will _be at the wedding."

We looked at each other with raised eyebrows. Saturday, she said she wouldn'teven allow the wedding. She wasn't done.

"I was angry on Saturday, and I've spoken to my granddaughter about what I said. I love Esme, very much. And now that I know how much it would bother you to see me there, in_ your_ church, in _your_ hometown, I'll be there front and center."

"I'd rather not see you again, but I want her day to be good," Nan said. "She's a sweetheart, in spite of you. It'd hurt her if you weren't there. Jasper loves her, and that's all that matters to me. So you stay on your side, and I'll stay on mine. That oughta work just fine."

They must have walked away because we heard nothing else but the chatter of the people who hadn't gone on the tour. I stood and looked around and didn't see either one of them.

"All clear," I said. Tiny and Bell both stood up, and Tiny spoke.

"This has been the best baseball game I have ever been to in my whole life." She went back inside as we laughed. I grabbed Bell's arm before she got away. It was hard to be serious after we'd just been laughing so hard, but I needed to be.

"Were you going in to work on Friday?" I asked.

"I thought about it," she said. "I'm not really doing much anymore except training Claire. I can do that next week. Why?"

"I talked to my parents today, and we're going to Forks on Friday to get what we want from the house."

"Wow, they're both going at the same time?" she asked.

"Yeah. They're selling it. I want you to come, if you can."

"I'm there," she said before leaning over to kiss me.

"Your mom is okay with your dad being there?"

"Of course not," I said. "But she knows it'll go quicker, and his name is on the house too. I told her we'd only take what's important. They already said they don't want the furniture, and we don't need it, so they're gonna sell the house as is, with the furniture. Let the buyer deal with it."

"Are you okay with selling the house?"

"Definitely," I said. "I have more bad memories than good of that place."

"Are Vera and Waylon going?" she asked.

"Waylon, but not Vera. It's gonna be hard on Ma, and nobody wants to upset her more. Vera doesn't think it's a good idea for her to go, and I agree."

When I dropped my Dad off, I'd managed to pull Vera to the side and talk. We both agreed Ma wouldn't take kindly to Vera in our old house. I told her my Dad would be riding with me, so he'd be fine... for the trip anyway.

"Pretty sure Jane won't want me there either," Bell said.

"Doesn't matter. You'll be there for me, to make sure I don't kill either one of them. I want you there."

"That's the sweetest thing you've said to me in the last hour," she said.

"Who says romance is dead?" I asked.

* * *

The tour group came back a few minutes before the singing of the national anthem. They'd seen the press box and even gone down to the bullpen. They were just a _little _bit excited when they got back. And by little bit, I meant practically fucking high and bouncing off the walls. Still, I was glad I hadn't gone; I would have just ruined everyone else's time. Besides, I had much more fun with Bell and Tiny.

The Mariners and The Minnesota Twins gave us a good show. People were seriously into the game, except those moms and aunts who'd never intended to watch it at all. Most of the women with any connection to me, Bell, Esme, and Jasper sat inside the suite, out of the way of the food, as they used this last opportunity while they were all together to talk about the wedding.

I went inside around the middle of the fifth inning to get more food. I decided to stay inside at one of the tables and listen in on the wedding planning; they were doing this all for me and Bell after all. I could watch the game on one of the TVs in the suite.

"Maybe one Saturday in August?" Esme said.

"Honey, y'all would melt," Sharon said. "Late September would be better, or October." I saw them all huddled around someone's phone as they checked out a calendar.

"Saturday, September 22nd?" Jasper's aunt Lynn asked.

"The annual meeting for Platt Commercial is around that time," Esme's mom said. "So that might not work."

"If that's when it is, I'll make it work," Helen hurried to say. I had to give her credit; after her outburst at the party, she was trying her damndest to be nice to the Whitlocks.

"No," Esme said. "You know that's important, Aunt Helen. You and grandfather will be very busy then. We'll pick another time." Helen smiled at Esme.

"Good thing you set our date," Bell said as she sat down across from me at my table. "It could take forever for them to settle on a date."

"What's our group talking about?" I asked. She'd just left a table with Vera, Marie, and our moms. I knew my mom could be a real pain in the ass, but it made me happy that they were trying to include her.

"Who's doing Christmas and where," she said as I groaned. "Sue just talked Renée out of coming to our place for Thanksgiving and staying until the wedding." I almost spat out my water.

"No fucking way was that going to happen," I said. She was laughing her ass off at me.

"Sue very nicely talked her out if it," she said. "They decided to come to our place for Christmas, and maybe try to get a couple of the guest suites again."

"That sounds good. Did you talk to your pastor?" I asked.

"Yes, we're all set for 5 p.m. on New Year's day. But he wants us to meet with him before then, and maybe go on a retreat that he gives for couples."

"I'll meet with him, but I don't know about the retreat," I said.

"That's what I told him," she said, laughing. "I just wanted to see your reaction."

"Did you really talk to that lady about a dress, or did you just say that to get them off your back?" I asked.

"I really talked to Cory," she said. "I loved that dress, and she already showed me one she thinks will work for me."

"So when are you picking what I'm gonna wear?" I asked very seriously.

"You'll be doing that yourself," she said, smirking at me. "You're a big boy. You can handle it." I stopped eating and stared at her.

"What the fuck do I know about tuxes? You don't want me to mess it up do you?"

"Don't try that reverse shit on me," she said, still laughing. "You obviously know that you're supposed to wear a tux. You just said so."

"_Babe_," I said in my whiniest voice. "That's a lot of stress on me." She hated when I whined. Still she laughed.

"You just planned a surprise party with over 80 guests, got your parents talking for the first time in years, and made serious headway on starting a business. If you can handle all that, which you can, then I think you can manage to pick out tuxes for you and your groomsmen." I pouted next. That usually worked. All I got was more laughter.

"The wedding colors are midnight blue and winter white. Handle it, sexy."

Having effectively given me my orders, she hopped off her chair, walked over to me, and pinched my ass while she kissed me. I _really_ fucking loved her. Knowing that I had no choice, I pulled out my phone and sent a note to myself so that I'd remember the wedding colors.

The unmistakable sound of snickering pulled my head around to the food table. Jasper, Edward, and Carlisle were visibly shaking with laughter as they piled their plates with food.

"We couldn't help but overhear," Carlisle said, his face bright red from laughing. "I'd be happy to..."

"Hell no, Carlisle," I said which made them laugh harder as they sat down at my table. "You'll have me in some custom Armani shit that'll cost more than my Jeep. I'll figure it out."

"We might as well get the same tux for both weddings," Edward said. "That'll be practical." Carlisle looked at him like he was a total idiot, and even I had to look at Edward funny.

"I can't believe somebody married to Tiny, the fashion queen, would say some shit like that," I said. Again, the guys cracked up laughing.

"Even I know we can't wear the same thing for both," I added. "They would have a fit. I think the tuxes have to match the wedding colors anyway."

"Not necessarily," Carlisle said. "You could go with black and white for the vests and everything. It's classic and it works with all colors." Jasper started talking, which saved me from making what would have been a not-so-nice reply to Carlisle for knowing that.

"Y'all are doin' good with the plans," Jasper said. "We don't even have colors yet." Edward laughed again and shook his head.

"Um, yeah, you _do_," he said.

"Hey, Mama," Jasper yelled across the room. "What's my wedding colors?"

"Vermilion and pearl," she yelled back.

"Don't ask your fiancée or anything!" Esme shouted at Jasper. Nearly everyone inside the suite fell apart laughing.

"You got yourself a mama's boy," one of Jasper's aunts, who was still laughing, said to Esme. "Better get used to it."

"That's the feistiest I've ever heard Esme," Edward said, holding his stomach as he laughed.

"There's another side to Esme, trust me," Jasper said with a wink. Sara, Esme's mom, was giving Jasper a nasty, sideways look which set me off laughing again.

"You really fucked that up, dude," I said.

"Mama knew the answer," Jasper said defensively. "I don't see the problem."

"_That's_ the problem," Edward and Carlisle said at the same time causing more laughter.

After seeing him in action this weekend, I realized that when it came to his mother, Jasper wasn't always his usual calm, rational self. He seemed clueless about the fact that he should have asked Esme, not his mom, a question about the wedding.

"Jasper, you've got a bigger problem on your hands anyway," I said when we settled down.

"What now?" he asked.

"What the _fuck_ is vermilion?" I asked. The guys howled with laughter. I thought my stomach might cramp up I'd laughed so much. This wedding planning was turning out to be all kinds of hilarious.

* * *

"My god, you'd think somebody was leaving for war," Caius said.

"It's kind of your fault," I replied. "Having the game at the suite was a hit. Thanks again, seriously."

"The thanks all go to you," he said. "I surprised myself and had a great time this weekend."

"Careful," I said. "You might ruin your mean-guy rep." He gave a hard laugh.

"No chance of that happening," he replied. "My rep around town is still intact and that's okay by me." He walked to his waiting car, with driver.

A stranger passing by our buses-first after the game and then at the hotel-would have thought we _were _sending our family members off to war. And because I was the person who planned the weekend, I was at the center of the hugs, tears, and promises for return.

Vera and my Dad were going back to Vegas on Sunday, and Liz and Tony were going home to Chicago with the triplets on Friday. Everyone else was leaving tomorrow. People had formed bonds this weekend; and just like I knew, our families had hit it off just as fast as we had.

At the party, Seth said that this was one of my better ideas. I could not have agreed with him more. The entire weekend, the whole Bella surprise birthday... _thing_, had been the third best idea I'd ever had. As good as it was, the two best had been even better: first, when I asked Isabella Swan out on a date; second, when I asked her to marry me.

All the good things in my life started and ended with my Bell.

* * *

**A/N: Well, folks, we're just about done, and again, I grow sad *sniff*! There will be one more chapter in which we'll catch up with the gang once all the families have gone home. Then, the party will be over.**

**To all the readers here in the U.S., I hope you have a safe Memorial Day weekend.**

**As always, thanks for reading and let me know what you think!**

* * *

**Chapter Glossary:**

_**Casino cage:**_** The area in a casino where people cash in chips and/or vouchers, and make other monetary transactions. The cage is usually found in an enclosure against a wall. Cashiers usually work behind a window. **

_**Bullpen:**_** The area at a baseball stadium where pitchers throw and warm up. **


	6. Chapter 6

**A/N: Stephenie Meyer owns **_**Twilight**_**. I just mixed up the couples and brought all their families to town.**

**Beta thanks and author notes have been placed at the end of the chapter. **

* * *

**Wednesday, October 12, 2011:  
Approximately Three Weeks After the Party**

**EmPOV**

The shit you gotta do to get ahead. I frowned as I studied myself in the mirror. I looked good; I just didn't look like _me_.

Jake and I had two big meetings today. First, we were meeting with our lawyer. Then, we were meeting with a rep from the Seattle office of the Small Business Administration. So here I stood, in a suit, looking good but feeling like a stranger. I didn't wear a tie though; I spent enough time with Carlisle and Caius to know that you could be professional in a suit without one. They rarely wore ties, and they were very successful.

The doorbell sounded; I knew that would be Jake.

"Jacob Black, I fucking love you!" Bell shouted. I thought that was a little dramatic but whatever. She was excited for the business too. He started talking a mile a minute which wasn't really like him. I couldn't blame him; this was a big day.

We'd finally settled on a name for our business: E. J. Tours. We never forgot what Liz said to us on the tour that day about calling the company "Emmett and Jake Tours". After playing around with variations of our names and initials for a long time, we decided that E. J. Tours was simple and easy to remember. As Jake suggested, our faces would be incorporated into our logo and all promotional materials as well.

To the public, we'd be known as E. J. Tours, but the business would actually be broken down into three components: E. J. Sights by Bus, E. J. Retail for the store we'd open with hiking-related clothes and goods, and E. J. Advanced Hiking Experiences.

"We'll make it work," Jake said to Bell. "We have to." I had no idea why they were being so loud or talking so excitedly out there. This wasn't the first important meeting we'd had for the business.

We'd already met with an accountant who drafted some numbers for our initial business plan, and today the lawyer would get all the paperwork updated to include our official business name. The process was moving much faster than I ever expected. We weren't close to being done with our plans and preparations, but we were solidly on our way. E. J. Tours was going to happen.

"From now on, I'm calling you Super Sperm!" Bell shouted as they both laughed. I knew then that they weren't talking about our meetings today.

"Um, what the fuck?" I asked when I walked out into the living room.

"Leah's pregnant!" they shouted together. I stood still and stared at the both of them. They started hugging, and then Bell's cell phone rang. It was Sue. Bell put her on speaker, and Sue started shouting right along with Bell and Jake.

I was glad that they hadn't given me time to say anything because I was _very_ confused. I didn't know Leah as well as they did, but I knew her fairly well. And she made no secret of the fact that she was all about her work right now. Kids were not in her immediate future.

Yet, you could almost feel the happiness coming off of Jake. Bell was crying as she talked and laughed with Sue, and I couldn't even make out what Sue was saying because she was so excited. I couldn't help but wonder how Leah felt.

"I'm confused," I said when they finished talking to Sue. "When did this happen?"

"Leah called while you were in the shower," Bell said, her eyes shining with excitement. "She just came from the doctor's. Then she called us." She grabbed Jake and they started hugging again.

"She's coming _home_, dude," Jake said to me as he shook Bell back and forth. "She's fucking coming home!" _Now_ their excitement made sense.

Bell let go of Jake, wiped her face, and then turned to talk to me.

"She's stunned really," Bell said. "She said she suspected it for a few weeks now, but when she missed her period, she took a test."

"Three tests," Jake said, beaming from ear to ear.

"They were all positive," Bella added, smiling just as wide. "But she didn't want to say anything until she saw a doctor."

"But what about her job?" Leah loved that job, and she was doing important work. She couldn't stop talking about it when she'd been here for the party.

"That's the best part," Jake said. "She just met with her boss, and she told him there's no way she can be pregnant and be so far away from her family." Bell picked up the story.

"He asked her if she'd consider still working on the reports and stuff, from here, and..."

She stopped when her phone rang again. It was Sue and Leah_ together _this time, and Bell ran off to her office. It sounded like she was checking on flights.

"He said he thought maybe she could continue to work with some of the leaders they met when they were here," Jake said, finishing for Bell.

"Congratulations," I said, clapping him on the arm. But even I could hear that my voice didn't have the same enthusiasm as theirs.

"Thanks," he said. "What's wrong? I can tell something's bothering you."

"Nothing's wrong," I said. "I'm just... worried, a little, about Leah. She always said she didn't want kids until she was older."

"That's what she always said," he agreed. "But she's happy. I know you didn't get to talk to her, but she is. She's shocked, just like I am, but she's happy."

"...can come today if you want," Bell said, talking into her phone as she raced past us and into the bedroom.

"Do you want to postpone the meetings today?" I asked. "This is kind of huge, man." He looked at his watch.

"Definitely not the small business one," he said. "Took us long enough to get this appointment. But maybe I'll call the lawyer and see if he can meet us a little later today?"

"That works for me," I said. He quickly got on the phone, while I happily removed my suit jacket and decided what to eat for breakfast.

Watching Bell and Jake talk to Sue and Leah over the next hour was pretty entertaining. Bell and Sue wanted to fly out today to bring her back immediately, but Leah talked them down. She wanted to have time to nail down her revised job duties with her boss and her team, and talk to her landlord. So Sue and Bell were going Friday instead. It was decided that Leah would move in with Jake. He was still so excited; I hadn't seen him sit down yet.

I watched him as he talked on the phone; he was still grinning. I hoped that he hadn't accidentally-on-purpose forgotten to use a condom just to up his chances of getting her pregnant, hoping that would bring her home. I didn't like to think he'd do something like that, but love made people do crazy things.

But then I remembered a conversation I'd walked in on when Leah was here. She and Bell had been right here in the kitchen talking about their pills and... _cycles_. At the time, I'd been mortified, but now I was glad I'd heard that because it was proof that they'd used at least one type of birth control. And there were thousands of people - - probably more like millions - - walking around today simply because their parents' birth control failed.

"It's all good," Jake said. "He can take us right after the SBA meeting."

"Cool," I said. "Did you tell Billy yet, or are you gonna wait?"

"Shit!" he replied. "I better tell him now. If he hears it from somebody else, he'll be pissed."

I had many doubts about the whole situation, but I kept my thoughts to myself. Leah and Jake had a volatile relationship, and I was concerned about them living together. I also worried about the baby. She couldn't be over 6 or 7 weeks pregnant; she'd come here at the very beginning of September. So many things could happen early in a pregnancy. Bree, who worked with us down at the branch, had only just come back to work after having a miscarriage. It had torn her apart.

All I could do was think positive thoughts and hope that things worked out for Leah, Jake, and baby Black. My phone rang, pulling me from my worries. It was Embry from work.

"Hey, what's up?" I asked.

"Corporate wants to know if they can do that free class here, and if you'll lead it," he said. "I think they need an answer today." I told him I'd call Laurent, and we talked about a few other things as well.

I hadn't had any more of those freezing episodes thankfully, and I'd slipped right back into work with little difficulty. At the branch, Jake and I were already starting to shift the staff duties around so that the team was less reliant on us.

We were doing more of the office work after two members of our admin staff expressed interest in leading some of the tours. Less time out leading tours meant more time in the office doing paperwork and leading classes. When we were younger, Jake and I hated being "stuck" inside, but now we didn't mind because that left us more time to plan our business.

* * *

Both of our meetings went really well. Jake almost floated home, still high off the news that he was going to be a dad. After the meetings, I stopped by Waylon's at Ma's request. It was Wednesday and I was having dinner with the gang tonight so Ma wanted me to take over a centerpiece sample.

"If they don't like it, just tell me," Ma said. She looked as nervous as I'd ever seen her.

"I don't see why they wouldn't, but I'll tell you what they say."

"Let me get a box for it," she said as she walked into a room off of the kitchen.

My Mom officially resigned from her teaching job, and permanently lived with Waylon in Seattle now. We'd taken what was important from the house in Forks. It was on the market now, and we knew that it might take a while to sell. Still, it felt good for all of us not to have to deal with it anymore.

Ma was serious about working on her anger and negativity. She started taking a crafting class in flower design and she really enjoyed it. She also kept herself busy with her counseling sessions and church activities. At the party, she'd spent some time talking with Jasper's aunt Lynn, the minister, and the two of them communicated via e-mail quite a bit from what she told me.

"I don't know much about these things," Waylon said. "But I think it's really nice. She worked hard on it, picking the flowers and the fabric." I nodded my head in agreement.

"I think it looks great, and it's my wedding," I replied. "I do have a say."

"It's nice that you think so," he said as we both laughed.

Waylon already told me that he planned to propose to my mom as soon as the divorce was finalized. I think they had about another month to go before the state-required waiting period was over and the divorce would be final. I knew four people who would be happy as hell when it was. My Dad told me he was going to propose to Vera for Christmas. Both my parents had found happiness, even if it was later in life. I was thrilled for both of them.

"This should work," Ma said. She took the arrangement from me and put it into a box she'd found as she fussed with the centerpiece one last time. "If Esme doesn't like it, tell me. She's a big designer. I'll understand."

"She'll love it," I said before I leaned down to kiss her cheek. "Love you."

"Love you, too," she said, smiling so quickly I could barely see it.

My Mom would never be considered smiley or bubbly or anything, but she seemed much more content now. We all missed my brother, but it was pretty clear that without him, me, Ma, and Heidi had a lot less stress and negativity in our lives. I would always love and remember him, but I was also enjoying the way things felt in my life now.

* * *

I was looking forward to tonight, our first real Wednesday dinner since our families had gone home. The three weeks since the party had been crazy busy for all of us, and that first week, I think we all needed to decompress from so much family time. I'd talked with the gang here or there, and we definitely talked on the phone, but we hadn't been together at the same time since the Mariners game.

When I pulled up to Alice and Edward's, I saw Edward standing outside talking to Mrs. Cope, the property manager, and Charlotte, her assistant. Tempo and Fresco were jumping around going absolutely fucking nuts.

"Have a good evening, Emmett," Mrs. Cope said.

"You too, and you, Charlotte," I replied as I passed them on the sidewalk. Tempo and Fresco ignored me as they tried to leap at a bag that Edward was holding.

"Sit!" he commanded. When both puppies complied, he opened the bag and gave each one a large rectangular biscuit.

"Charlotte's sister makes them," Edward said. "And Mrs. Cope wanted to give them these." He picked up a gift bag and pulled out a pack of jerky treats and some toys.

"Lucky pups," I said. The puppies had already wolfed down the biscuits and were whining for more.

"My _kids _are popular," Edward said with a smirk as we walked into the house. Edward resealed the bag of biscuits and set it, and the gift bag, in a basket on a side table in the hallway. The huge basket was filled with other toys and clothes for Tempo and Fresco.

"All that's from Mrs. Cope?" I asked.

"No, some of it's from neighbors we've seen on walks," he said. "Like I said, they're popular." Realizing that their "dad" wasn't going to give them any more biscuits, Tempo and Fresco turned their attention to me. I gave them their usual pats and shakes.

"You can put that here," Edward said. He pointed to the counter and I set the box with Ma's centerpiece on it. I walked to the fridge to get something to drink. We didn't even ask each other anymore; we were that comfortable.

"I can tell your mom was here," I said with a chuckle. He smiled. There were magnets and pictures on the refrigerator, and other homey sorts of knick knacks on the island and counters as well.

"Hey, who's this?" I pointed to one of the pictures that caught my eye. It was of Liz, a girl who looked like a younger version of Liz, and a little girl who looked two or three. The little girl was a little more tan than they were, and she didn't have that bronzy hair color, but she was all Edward and Liz in the face with those same green eyes.

"Those are my cousins: Sasha, and her little girl, Tia," Edward said. "Sasha's dad and my mom were brother and sister."

"Were?" I asked.

"Yeah," he said. "He died a few years ago, his wife too. Bad car accident."

"That's horrible," I said. Death never took a vacation.

"He and my mom were really close. Sasha and Tia are pretty much the only family left on my mom's side; my dad has a big family though." He pointed out a few of his dad's relatives in the other pictures. We sat at the counter and talked for a while until he asked a question.

"We've still got time before the others get here. Can you help me move something?"

"Sure," I replied.

"I need help with the last crib," he said. "I can lift it, but we wanna put it upstairs and I need help getting it around the corner." They had a little open area, I guess kind of like an open attic, above the second floor.

"Sure, let's go." The crib was larger and more substantial than I thought it would be and we discussed how best to move it. Almost as soon as we started lifting, we heard a loud crash downstairs and the sound of the puppies squealing.

"They really are like kids," Edward said as he set his end of the crib down and ran downstairs. I followed and had to laugh. The puppies had somehow managed to push the side table away from the wall and knock the basket of dog gifts and treats off of it, clearly trying to get to the bag of biscuits.

"How the hell did they get up there?" I asked. The top of the table was at my waist; the puppies barely reached the middle of my calf. Edward just shook his head as he picked up the contents of the basket. The guilty puppies were hiding under a chair in the living room, trying to look innocent.

We had no time to go back up and move the crib because we heard the garage door open, and soon Bell, Esme, and Tiny walked inside. By the time I kissed Bell and joked around with Esme and Tiny, the doorbell rang. Edward opened the door to find Carlisle standing there with a crying Rose.

"Rose, what's wrong?" Bell asked as she ran over to her. Rose followed Carlisle inside but shook her head at Bell, unable to speak.

"They're happy tears," Carlisle said with the biggest grin I'd ever seen on his face. "We're pregnant!"

"Holy shit!" I said as the others crowded around Rose and Carlisle, shouting and hugging them.

"...heard the... heartbeat... just now," Rose said, crying harder.

Bell, Esme, and Alice were so close around her that I wasn't sure Rose's feet were touching the ground when they quickly ushered her into the living room. I remained standing, near the door, with Carlisle and Edward. I couldn't believe it: the first baby in the gang.

"Congratulations!" I said to Carlisle. He had like a permasmile on his face, and his eyes looked glazed over.

"Thanks," he said. "We just came from the doctor. Hearing the heartbeat..." He couldn't finish, but he never stopped smiling.

"This is like déjà vu," I said.

"Are you and Bella?" Carlisle asked, a shocked look on his face.

"No," I replied with a chuckle. "Jake and Leah."

"What?" Tiny screeched. She obviously overheard me. "You didn't tell us!" She looked at Bell with her mouth wide open.

Oops. Maybe I wasn't supposed to say anything.

"I was going to let her tell you," Bell said with a huge grin, "when she gets here. She's moving back this weekend!" That set off another round of screams.

"When's she due?" Rose asked.

"May 31st," Bell said. "When are you?"

"May 5th," Rose replied.

I could see what people meant about pregnant women glowing. Rose's face looked fucking bright. Other than that though, I really couldn't tell that she was pregnant. She had on a tight shirt, and tight jeans, like always. She looked the same to me.

"We said we'd wait until you guys noticed before we said anything," Rose said. "But after today, with the heartbeat, I knew I couldn't keep it to myself."

"How far along are you?" Esme asked.

"About ten weeks, so a couple months," Rose said. "I _should_ wait to talk about it, but I can't. I'm so excited."

"What about you, _Dad_?" Bell asked Carlisle.

"_So_ excited," he said.

"Does Uncle Grandpa Caius know?" Edward asked.

"Yes," Rose said with a warm expression.

"Is that why he was so nice to you at the party?" Tiny asked. Rose nodded.

"When he found out, that's when he really started talking to me," Rose said. "He gave me a gift card to a maternity boutique. There's no limit on it. You guys _have_ to go shopping with me."

I thought Tiny might fall off the couch when Rose said "no limit". But she didn't have a chance to do anything because the last dinner guest arrived.

"Um, hey," Jasper said as he walked inside. "Why was the door open?" I realized nobody had ever closed the door after Rose and Carlisle came in. We quickly brought him up to speed, and closed the door while he hugged Rose and Carlisle.

"Where's Jake now?" Jasper asked.

"Probably still walking on the clouds," I said as the others chuckled. "Dude is fucking stoked." I was pretty sure that by now, every single member of the Quileute nation in La Push knew about the baby. That reminded me of another baby in our gigantic extended family.

"Did your sister-in-law have the baby yet?" I asked Jasper. He laughed.

"She's got another month left," he replied. Rose's eyes bugged. Amber looked ready to pop when she was here; I couldn't imagine her lasting another month.

"That whole party weekend... all the family stuff... having the babies and kids here," Alice said, "it was all to start getting us ready for kids of our own. It seems so obvious now." We all agreed as we looked around the room at each other.

"So now I'll have two preggos in the wedding," Bell said with a smirk. "Won't _that _be fun." Rose threw a couch pillow at her, and they laughed.

"This preggo is starving," Rose said. "What're we doing for dinner?"

* * *

We fell right back into the dinner routine, talking, laughing, and catching up like we always did. Bell, Esme, and Tiny genuinely liked the centerpiece my Mom made, with a few suggested alterations. I called Ma and let her talk to Esme. From the sound of it, Ma was going to do all the centerpieces. Again, I was just glad they were including her.

We spent at least an hour looking at pictures from the party weekend which sparked many comments, more laughter, and a lot of follow-up questions.

"Esme, what did your family say about Jasper's brother Riley and all his tattoos?" Carlisle asked.

"I plead the Fifth," she replied as the rest of us laughed.

"C'mon," I said. "What'd they really say about his family?"

"They _love_ Jasper," she replied. Jasper shook his head, but laughed along with us.

"Did you two set a date yet?" Carlisle asked them.

"October 3rd, next year. It's a Saturday," Esme said as Jasper grinned at her. We talked for a while then as Jasper told us his family was working on getting a block of hotel rooms and not to make any reservations yet. Next year was going to be a busy year.

"How's Seth liking college?" Edward asked Bell.

"His ass is homesick," she said, laughing. "Sue said he never talked to her this much his whole life. Calls home all the time."

"I saw Reenie's picture from the baseball game up on the e-Gossip site the other week," Alice said.

"Tanya's thrilled about all the extra press," Rose said, rolling her eyes.

Caius swears he didn't say anything, but someone we encountered either on our way into the stadium, or up in the suite itself, recognized Irina and put her up on the Jumbotron at the baseball game. It made the local news, and apparently some big tabloids too.

"How's the new job?" Carlisle asked Bell.

"Great so far," she said. "I can do most of it at home."

Bell finished her work with the Initiative, and started her new job at U Dub last week. She was working on a study for one of her former professors, on literature use in public schools. There was a lot of research involved, just like with Jasper's work, and she could do most of it, at least for now, online.

"Emmett, when are your dad and Vera coming back?" Esme asked.

"The beginning of November," I said. "They turned in their notice at work, and they're tying up all their loose ends down there."

"Is Angie back at work? Did they find nannies?" Bell asked Edward.

"Yes," he replied. "Angie's back, but she's only doing day shift. They've got two nannies who rotate; they work during the day, Monday through Friday. Eric works from home, so he's there if there's a problem, and you know my mom's there sometimes too. So far, so good."

"How was it with the triplets around?" I asked Edward.

"Crazy, but not as bad as I expected," he said. "But we were all helping so that made it go more smoothly."

"Did they sleep through the night?" Carlisle asked.

"Not the whole night," Tiny said. "They slept pretty solidly from midnight until about five in the morning. After that, it varied."

"My mom says all the excitement wore them out," Edward said. "She said they didn't sleep that well before they came here."

"That's sleeping well?" Carlisle asked. "Five hours?" That didn't sound good to me either.

"It is," Rose said with a smirk as she patted him on his leg. "Get ready for a lot of sleepless nights."

"Did having the girls here make you want kids?" I asked Edward.

"Not really," he said. "It sounds stupid but when you don't have kids, you don't think about how permanent it is. They're there all the time. You can't just leave; you have to make sure you know who's watching them. It's so much more work than I thought."

"But I do feel like I could handle kids now," Tiny said. "I didn't think so before."

"Are you thinking about having kids soon?" Edward asked me.

"Definitely," I replied, looking at Bell who nodded. "We've been together a long time, and we both want kids. I don't see the point of waiting."

"That's one way to look at it," Edward said, smiling at us.

"With us, we just go with the flow," Tiny said. "We're not planning for a baby right now, but if it happened, we'd be okay. I think we did pretty well with the girls."

"Me too," Edward said. "I'm proud of us."

Vicky called Rose not long after that, and Rose and Carlisle left to go see her. Were he not in such a haze of joy, he would have run the other direction but he dutifully followed Rose. Esme and Jasper left when they did.

"You wanna move that crib now?" I asked Edward when we'd all said goodbye to the others.

"You tried to move it again?" Tiny asked him with a smirk.

"Yup," he replied, shaking his head. She snorted and shook her head too.

"What happened this time?" she asked.

"Tempo and Fresco." They stared at each other, clearly speaking without words. Bell looked at me, and I shrugged.

"When the babies were here," Tiny said, "we set up cribs in the room Angie stayed in. But now that everybody's gone, we wanted to put the cribs up on the top floor until we need them again."

"Are these the portable cribs from all the stuff you bought that time?" Bell asked.

"One of them was," Edward replied. "Rose got the other portable one."

"We bought a larger crib too," Tiny said. "So one of the girls slept in the portable one, and the other two slept in the larger one."

"The larger crib is convertible," Edward said. "You can change it to a toddler bed. We figured the girls will be back, and we can use it as they get older."

"So we moved the portable crib with no problem," Tiny said.

"But every time we've tried to move that other crib, the convertible one," Edward said, "something happens."

"And you know me," Tiny said. "I think it's a sign. It's just happened too many times."

"The first time we tried to move it," Edward said, "my dad called. He thought he left his spare glasses here, and made us stop what we were doing to look all over the house."

"Then Liz called to say she found them," Tiny said. "But by then, we were hungry and we went out to dinner and planned to move the crib another time."

"The second time we were gonna move the crib," Edward said, "was the day we had that really bad storm."

"I remember that," I said. "It rained buckets that day, and it happened so fast."

"We'd been cleaning, and we had all the windows and the back door open," Tiny said. "So we had to run around closing all the windows, wiping up the rain that got in. And we were too tired to move the crib after that."

"The third time," Edward said, "we both got calls for work within minutes of each other. A guy I know begged me to play a concert; somebody in the band broke his arm and they needed a stand in."

"And Demetri asked me if I could help him," Tiny said. "He overbooked big time that day."

The four of us looked back and forth between each other; even Tempo and Fresco looked like they understood that some strange shit was happening.

"It definitely sounds like that crib does not want to be moved," I said.

"What do you think it means?" Bell asked. "Are..."

"I'm not pregnant," Alice said quickly as we laughed. "I just had a doctor's appointment on Friday."

"What then?" I asked. "Do you_ feel _anything?"

"I've been really sad lately," she said. "That's the only way to describe it. Not mopey or depressed. Maybe sad is not the right word. More like there's a heaviness around me, like a cloud or something." Again, we all looked at each other.

"Have you felt that before?" Bell asked.

"No," Tiny said. "It's just been the last week or so. It's no fun, I can tell you that. It was great to hear all the good news today. That's the lightest I've felt in a while."

"I think for now, we'll just leave that crib where it is," Edward said.

"I think that's a good idea," I said. I was starting to feel creeped out by the whole thing.

Bell and I talked with Tiny and Edward for about another fifteen minutes, and we did manage to get Tiny laughing again. With promises made to see each other soon, I took Ma's centerpiece and we left.

* * *

"Seriously? You're breaking that out right now, when I'm looking all sexy like this?" I asked as Bell rolled onto her side on the bed and laughed.

"We've barely had time to start this," she said. "Besides, you gave it to me. So deal with it."

With a huge grin on her face, she waved the wedding journal in front of her. It was the journal with all the questions about our relationship that I'd given her for her birthday.

"You look hot," I said as I reached over and attempted to stroke her bare thigh.

"Don't even," she said, slapping my hand away. "If you didn't want to answer these questions, you should have never given me the book."

I sighed as I got into bed and rolled onto my side, facing her. She clearly loved the journal, like I knew she would. I could wait an hour or so while she asked the journal questions until I made her body an offer it couldn't refuse. Her smile when I caved made me realize that I should be a little more enthusiastic about this. I'd been saying for years that she never made time for me, and here she was doing just that.

"You have my undivided attention," I said, sitting up and turning to face her. I was almost blinded by the smile I got in return. She sat up straight, and flipped through the book until she found the first question she wanted to ask.

"What one song will your partner want played at the wedding?"

"What song will _you _want played?" I asked.

"That was the question," she said with a smirk.

"Slow or fast?"

"Both," she said. "I'm interested in what you'll say." I stared at her face, trying not to let my eyes wander down to her tits in the little nightshirt she had on.

"If you want me to answer and not pounce on you, stop biting that lip," I said. She released her lip and smiled.

"It pains me to say it, but I guess you want that iron flight song for the slow one," I said. She clapped.

"Good job. You remembered!" She hurried to write it down in the book. "And it's _Flightless Bird, American Mouth_ by Iron and Wine, just so you know."

"Don't you think that's kind of... depressing... for the wedding?" I asked. I hated that damn song. Bell didn't listen to a ton of music, and what she liked she usually picked up from other people; she heard that song from a coworker.

"No, it's perfect," she said. "We can do the first dance to that one." I forced myself not to protest or roll my eyes; she seemed really happy and that's all that mattered.

"Now for your fast song? Hmm," I said, leaning back against the pillows.

"You already know," she said, hurrying to write some shit down in the book. I scrunched my face for a second, then it hit me.

"Oh, fuck no!" I said, shooting straight up.

"Oh, yes," she said, laughing. "It's already written down."

"_Señorita_ is not a fucking song for a wedding," I stated.

"Any song the bride and groom want can be a song for a wedding, and this bride wants _Señorita_."

"I'm not having fucking Justin Timberlake songs at my wedding."

"Well, you must be going to a different wedding because it's happening."

"If you're putting that, then I want _Yeah!_ by Usher," I said.

"Fine," she said. "I'm writing it down. No problem at all. You know, I'm glad we talked about this. We'll have to do a whole song list."

The gym I used to go to played that Usher song all the time, and back when I was a gym rat, it always got me hyped up. It was on my iPod even now. And that fucking _Señorita_ song was all Leah's fault. She had a thing for Justin Timberlake. A big thing. Like if Justin proposed to Leah right now, Leah's pregnant ass would drop Jake like a hot potato. _Señorita_ was Leah's favorite song, and she played it enough that it rubbed off on her sister.

"Now for your slow song, I honestly have no idea," she replied. "We can skip..."

"I do have a slow song! You know this one. It's a great love song. You can put _money_ on that."

"Money on that?" she repeated. She dropped her pen when she realized what I meant.

"_Baby Hold On To Me_ is _not _a slow song."

"It is too," I insisted. "Write that down. Eddie Money." With a smirk and a shake of her head, she wrote it.

"That was one of my Dad's favorite songs," I said. It was one of mine too.

"Really? He wasn't exactly trying to hold on to Jane." I laughed and so did she.

"I never said I knew why he liked it," I replied. "I just said he did."

She asked a few more questions from the book, and I had to admit we were having a great time as we answered them. Then, she got to a fairly heavy one.

"What is your greatest expectation of married life with your partner?"

"I would say that's a three-way tie between food, sex, and clean laundry." She smacked me in the face with her pillow as we cracked up laughing.

"How about a real answer this time, asshole," she said, still laughing at me.

"I don't have one greatest expectation," I said, much more seriously, as I looked right into her eyes. "I expect you to love me like I love you, and trust me, and help me when I need it."

She turned away from me to put the journal and pen on the nightstand. Then she got closer to me and rolled on her side to face me.

"And I also don't _expect_ you to be a great mom to our kids," I added. "I _know_ you'll be a great mom."

"That was the perfect answer," she whispered as she draped her leg across my hip, ran her fingers through my hair, and pulled my head towards her. She pressed her lips to mine several times before pulling back just a little.

"I expect you to love_ me _like I love you." I smiled at her using my line, but I was too drawn in by the way she was looking at me to make any kind of joke.

"I expect you to care of me, and help me, and be an awesome dad to our kids."

"I'll try," I whispered, completely unable to take my eyes off hers.

"I know," she whispered back. We kissed again, this time a little longer.

"And I also expect you to build me tons of bookcases," she added, grinning at me. "That's very important."

"Done," I said when I stopped laughing. She rolled onto her back, and I rolled with her. I took my time as I placed kisses along her jaw and neck as she held onto me.

"I love you," I said. "I can't wait to marry you."

"I love you and I feel the same. Can we get on to the rest of the loving now? I have physical expectations too, you know."

"Are you nagging me already?" I asked as I slowly moved my hand down her body.

"Mmhm," she said, "so get used to it."

"I plan to do just that."

As I took my time making love to my fiancée, I knew that I'd be perfectly fine with this kind of nagging for the rest of my life.

* * *

**A/N: And so the party's over! *sigh* I have some notes:**

**1. Beta thanks: **To my beta extraordinaire, ExquisiteEdward. What can I say? I've said you rock, I've said you're awesome and incredible, and I've said you've kept me on track and tightened up my writing. All of that, and so much more, is true. I am truly thankful that I met you, and I genuinely appreciate all the time you put into editing these long-ass chapters!

**2. Special thanks:** I wanted to give a special note of thanks to three readers in particular whose enthusiastic reviews always made me think, chuckle, smile, or outright laugh. To _**emmettsmate **_and _**TheUnderStudy**_, I think you both are just as crazy as I am, and I appreciate all of your thoughts and comments ;0) To _**Vicki-Jasper-Whitlock**_, you've stuck with this story from the very early days, and your reviews, though brief, were **always** great motivation.

**3. Toddler bed: **Of course, Alice and Edward need the crib... converted to the toddler bed... for Tia. This is the week they'll find out about Sasha dying and Tia needing a home (see _Wednesday Dinner_ epilogue).

**4. **_**Flightless Bird**_**: **Yup, it's the song from _Twilight_. Emmett might not like it, but I do!

* * *

**Future Stories:**

**1. Bella and Emmett wedding:** I'm fairly certain I'll write Bella and Emmett's wedding. I have a scene for it in my head that just won't leave me alone. However, I'm not sure when it'll be done, so if interested in reading it, I would suggest putting me on author alert.

**2. Caius: **I can almost guarantee there will be a Caius outtake or one shot at some point. I really grew to like him over the course of the story, in his arrogant and obnoxious glory, and several readers have said the same.

**3. **_**Wednesday Dinner**_** universe: **I can't say I'm 100% done with this gang. They are just too fun to write, and there are so many possible storylines. So there may be future one shots. If so, I'll make it clear in the title or summary that it's _Wednesday Dinner_ related.

**4. Other fanfics: **Several readers have asked whether I'll be writing future fanfics (new stories, not related to this universe). The answer is: _probably_. I have a few ideas, but nothing concrete enough to move ahead with just yet.

_**Thanks for reading, reviewing, favoriting, and/or putting the story on alert. All the reviews, messages, and other notes of support have meant the world to me! **_


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